Spread of virus drives Corporate America into cyberspace for annual meetings
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
July 04, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JULY 04, 2022
Spread of virus drives Corporate America into cyberspace for annual meetings

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
10 March, 2020, 10:35 pm
Last modified: 10 March, 2020, 10:40 pm

Related News

  • A polarized US celebrates Independence Day
  • USA police shot Ohio black man 60 times, video shows
  • Panel on Capitol Hill riot could make multiple criminal referrals of Trump
  • Bezos slams Biden's call for gasoline stations to cut prices
  • India among top five countries of birth for naturalised US citizens

Spread of virus drives Corporate America into cyberspace for annual meetings

The coronavirus outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people globally and has been reported in 122 countries

Reuters
10 March, 2020, 10:35 pm
Last modified: 10 March, 2020, 10:40 pm
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather outside the Exxon annual shareholders' meeting in Dallas, Texas, US May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather outside the Exxon annual shareholders' meeting in Dallas, Texas, US May 30, 2018. REUTERS/Ernest Scheyder/File Photo

More US companies are moving their annual shareholder meetings online to help contain the spread of coronavirus, raising concerns among corporate democracy advocates about investors losing access to top executives and board directors.

Starbucks Corp this month cancelled its annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, known for attracting big crowds with free coffee, and said it would hold a "virtual" meeting for its shareholders instead on March 18.

Chip maker Qualcomm Inc is restricting access to its shareholder meeting on Tuesday to exclude people who have travelled to areas stricken by coronavirus, such as China and Italy. It will provide a webcast in addition to the in-person event.

Software developer F5 Networks Inc will for the first time allow shareholders to vote electronically as part of its virtual meeting on Thursday. F5 will also hold an in-person meeting in Seattle, but cautioned its investors about health and safety issues.

"We are seeing more and more companies discuss and consider moving towards virtual meetings this year due to the coronavirus issue," said Courtney Adante, president of security risk advisory at global consulting firm Teneo.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in China last year and causes the sometimes deadly respiratory illness COVID-19, has killed more than 4,000 people globally and has been reported in 122 countries.

Developer meetings at Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc, conferences such as music and technology festival South by Southwest and religious gatherings at churches and synagogues have been cancelled outright to curb coronavirus.

'CHERRY-PICKING CONCERNS'

Companies are hoping the digital meetings will help prevent the spread of the virus, while also providing access to shareholders who would not have attended the meetings physically. Many US shareholder meetings are held in April and May.

"Holding a virtual meeting eliminates the enhanced risk of infections and the related legal exposure," said Kai Liekefett, a partner at law firm Sidley Austin LLP, referring to the risk of investors filing lawsuits against companies if they become ill at the meetings.

Some investors see a worrying trend. They are concerned that these changes will become permanent, curtailing shareholders' ability to demonstrate at the meetings and grill corporate management and boards of directors in person.

"If it is a virtual-only meeting, they can cherry-pick questions, they can avoid protests. This is not something shareholders want, it's something boards and CEOs want so they can be unaccountable to shareholders," said James McRitchie, an investor and shareholder advocate.

Starbucks and F5 did not respond to requests for comment about the effect of virtual meetings on access to their executives and board members. A Qualcomm representative pointed to disclosures on its website, which state that shareholders who attend its annual meeting in person must fill out a questionnaire regarding their travels.

To be sure, only a small fraction of companies currently host their annual shareholder meetings on the internet. Yet even before the coronavirus outbreak that number was growing. Some 248 US companies held virtual shareholder meetings in the 2019 corporate voting season, up 17% from the year before, according to accounting and consulting firm PwC.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS WORRIED

Environmentalists are particularly concerned. Climate activists have become a fixture at the annual shareholder meetings of oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp. While Exxon and Chevron have yet to announce virtual shareholder meetings, activists say they risk losing an important forum that they use to pressure the companies.

"Managements and boards have disproportionate control over the flow of information and the ability of shareholders to ask questions," said Jonas Kron, director of shareholder advocacy at investment management firm Trillium Asset Management LLC, which submits proposals on climate change and racial and gender equity. "(An annual shareholder meeting) is one of the few places where unscripted organic engagement can happen between management and shareholders."

Exxon said this week it is still planning to hold its annual meeting in Dallas this year and Chevron said it continues to "monitor the situation very closely" and that its primary concern is the health and safety of employees.

The world's largest annual shareholder meeting is still on, for now. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc said last week that its shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 2, which typically draws 40,000 people or more and includes events such as a picnic and a 5k run, would go ahead. It added that the scope of the surrounding events may be "modified." "Postponing meetings may be a more respectful approach," said Tim Smith, who leads shareholder engagement efforts at socially responsible investment management firm Boston Trust Walden Company. "We would argue this should not become a precedent."

World+Biz

USA / Coronavirus

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • China’s new Covid flareup threatens crucial economic region, raising supply chain worries
    China’s new Covid flareup threatens crucial economic region, raising supply chain worries
  • Biman increases flights on domestic routes ahead of Eid
    Biman increases flights on domestic routes ahead of Eid
  • Photo: Collected
    Ex-BCL leader sets himself on fire at Press Club

MOST VIEWED

  • A man helps his son to wear mask at Covid-19 test centre at KSRTC bus stand in Bengaluru.(PTI)
    India records 16,103 new Covid cases, 31 deaths in 24 hours
  • Former North Korean defectors living in South Korea, release balloons containing one dollar banknotes, radios, CDs and leaflets denouncing the North Korean regime, towards the north near the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas in Paju, north of Seoul January 15, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
    North Korea blames 'alien things' near border with South for Covid outbreak
  • People wearing protective face masks commute amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang, North Korea March 30, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo. Picture taken March 30, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
    S Korea says leaflets sent by defectors unlikely to be cause of Covid in N Korea
  • Test tubes are seen in front of displayed Pfizer and Biontech logos in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. Reuters: llustration
    BioNTech, Pfizer to start testing universal vaccine for coronaviruses
  • A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
    S Korea approves first domestically developed Covid vaccine
  • Photo: Collected
    US medical experts call for Omicron-specific Covid boosters

Related News

  • A polarized US celebrates Independence Day
  • USA police shot Ohio black man 60 times, video shows
  • Panel on Capitol Hill riot could make multiple criminal referrals of Trump
  • Bezos slams Biden's call for gasoline stations to cut prices
  • India among top five countries of birth for naturalised US citizens

Features

Last month Swapan Kumar Biswas, the acting principal of Mirzapur United College, was forced to wear a garland of shoes for ‘hurting religious sentiments.’ Photo: Collected

Where do teachers rank in our society?

7h | Panorama
Japanese Ambassador Naoki Ito. Sketch: TBS

'The game-changing projects are in line with the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt initiative'

9h | Panorama
A Glittery Eid

A Glittery Eid

1d | Mode
Rise’s target customers are people who crave to express themselves through what they wear, and their clothing line is not relegated to any age range.

Level up your Eid game with Rise

1d | Mode

More Videos from TBS

Why Mbappe cheated Real Madrid

Why Mbappe cheated Real Madrid

Now | Videos
How useful will the government's plan to save money?

How useful will the government's plan to save money?

Now | Videos
Photo: TBS

Jahangirnagar University protest recent harassment of teachers

3h | Videos
Sanitary Napkin vending machines makes life easier for CU students

Sanitary Napkin vending machines makes life easier for CU students

6h | Videos

Most Read

1
Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'
Splash

Meet the man behind 'Azke amar mon balo nei'

2
TBS Illustration
Education

Universities may launch online classes again after Eid

3
Padma Bridge from satellite. Photo: Screengrab
Bangladesh

Padma Bridge from satellite 

4
Photo: Collected
Economy

Tech startup ShopUp bags $65m in Series B4 funding

5
World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years
Economy

World Bank to give Bangladesh $18b IDA loans in next five years

6
Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation
Stocks

Investor Hiru fined Tk2cr for market manipulation

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab
BENEATH THE SURFACE
Sun Drying Paddy in Monsoon: Workers in a rice mill at Shonarumpur in Ashuganj arrange paddy grains in lumps on an open field to dry out moisture through sunlight. During the rainy season, workers have to take cautions so that the grains do not get wet in the rains. Photo: Rajib Dhar

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net