Shareholders Meeting Changing With Times


A significant number of corporations that settled accounts in the past year are ready to hold their annual shareholders meetings.

In this year's meetings, more than 300 companies plan as their main focus of attention defense measures against hostile takeover bids.

Interestingly, more companies have introduced systems to allow shareholders to vote via the internet and cell phones to accommodate the new means, and will hold shareholders meetings on different dates from other firms.

This year also has seen firms more desperate to secure long-term stockholders by placing more importance on the interests of shareholders. According to a Forbes magazine survey, among the more than 130 companies considering defensive measures against corporate takeovers, ten may introduce the so-called poison pill defense of issuing share warrants to counter such actions.

Also, 90 of those firms plan to propose revisions of their corporate charters to expand possible issuance of authorized stocks at this year's meetings.

A new corporate law that is set to be enacted next year will liberalize the rules on so-called triangular mergers, in which foreign companies buy up various firms using their own shares.

For each of the companies, the introduction of defensive measures against hostile takeover bids is an urgent task. But unfortunately, some of the measures do not necessarily benefit shareholders.

Attention is being focused on how shareholders on both sides--those attempting takeovers and individual shareholders in target firms--will judge defense measures proposed at the meetings.

At one technological company's shareholders meeting this past spring in San Francisco, managers hoped to obtain shareholder approval for the business integration with another company.

But major stokeholder, James Harold Garrison, 61 of Palo Alto, California has called on other shareholders to oppose the plan, drawing attention to the result of the shareholders meeting.

Another trend is the increasing number of companies using information technology for voting and other purposes.

Systems on shareholders voting via the internet were liberalized sometime in 2002, and according to four major trust banks, the number of corporations offering online voting increased from 403 last year to 698 this year. The number of firms allowing voting by cell phone increased from 59 last year to 354. Many corporations also plan to adopt live internet broadcasts of their shareholders meetings.

Eric Newman is an author for Teanobi.com. All articles may be used and reprinted as long as they have an active link at the bottom pointing to www.teanobi.com">http://www.teanobi.com with the anchored text: www.teanobi.com">Teanobi - Green Tea


MORE RESOURCES:

Green investing comes of age
MLive.com, MI - 13 hours ago
by Mark Sanchez | Business Review Western Michigan Financial advisers see green investing as the hot sector right now, as new technologies emerge in the ...


Investing in America
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 15 hours ago
The argument against investing with an active US fund manager is that the sophistication of the US market makes it difficult for managers to outperform the ...


Times Online

Overseas property: the low-cost route to investing abroad
Times Online, UK - 6 hours ago
Overseas property is a tricky asset class for the investor. The initial outlay is large, there are layers of bureaucracy to negotiate, often in a foreign ...


Nuts And Bolts Investing
Motley Fool UK, UK - 10 hours ago
By David Holding | 15 May 2008 Trifast (LSE: TRI) is never going to set the word alight, but it may well prove a steady investment for long term value and ...


The Finance Professor From the S&P to Tiffany: Big Plans? Start ...
TheStreet.com - 11 hours ago
This month, many a college graduate will have completed the academic aspect of his or her life and will soon move on to the "professional" phase of life. ...


New Findata Website Makes Investing Easier
Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand - 50 minutes ago
Investing in the sharemarket has just got easier with the launch of the new Findata.co.nz website. While the original Findata.co.nz site has been providing ...


Elective Services – investing in the health of NZers
Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand - 2 hours ago
Since 2004 the government has been investing in elective services through the Orthopaedic and Cataract Initiatives. These initiatives have seen an increase ...


Investing in one product firms risky but worthwhile if it's ...
Oilweek Magazine, Canada - 9 hours ago
TORONTO _ Investing in a one-product company may lead to a big payday one day, but it´s also the kind of investment that requires patience, research and ...


Speed investing coming to Italy
IR Magazine, UK - 12 hours ago
LONDON -- A select group of IROs will see how Italian investors take to the snappy approach when they try out Dresdner Kleinwort’s speed investing ...


SARCC chief says it is investing heavily to improve rail experience
Creamer Media's Engineering News, South Africa - 7 hours ago
The South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARRC) is investing about R18-billion in upgrading its rail infrastructure, according to CEO Lucky Montana. ...

investing - Google News

site map
Nocommentweb.com © 2000 - Partners

psychology help | snus | ekspress lån | express loan | Santander Spain | cheap insurance | snus|