On 29 January 2018, ASIC released Report 564: Annual General Meeting Season 2017, which reflects on recent trends and issues around company AGMs and company meetings generally. In this article, we reflect on key themes and issues raised by the report in brief.
Hybrid and virtual AGMs
In the report, ASIC noted that widespread adoption of hybrid AGMs was not observed but that ‘constitutional changes to facilitate hybrid AGMs in the future indicated a potential trend towards this path.’ ASIC supports the use of technology to allow for companies to more meaningfully connect with their shareholders.