Virtual investor meetings are eroding shareholder rights, advocates warn

According to data collected by Amandeep Sandhu of Sandhu ESG Law, 57 per cent of TSX-60 constituent companies held virtual-only meetings during the 2023 proxy season, up from 54 per cent in 2020.Dozens of Canada’s largest investors are urging public companies to preserve their in-person annual general meetings, warning that the shift to virtual-only formats allows management teams to silence dissent.

Virtual-only AGMs are relatively new, having been almost non-existent prior to the public health restrictions introduced early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet despite those restrictions being lifted, the trend toward this type of meeting has continued to accelerate. Two recent cases are especially notable. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce recommended shareholders vote against the resolution at its AGM last week, but it received majority support nonetheless.

At the Air Canada AGM last month, where the board did not make any recommendation, a similar resolution received support from more than 82 per cent of shareholders. “It is the one occasion, the one opportunity, once a year, for investors and the company to be in the same place at the same time and discuss voting, discuss results, bring items to the agenda and have a live engagement,” Ms. Ouzane said in an interview from Montreal. “It is crucial that we keep those rights.”

Regulators, meanwhile, have struggled to ensure companies holding virtual-only AGMs offer the same level of access for shareholders as they would expect from an in-person meeting.since 2020 to offer guidance on virtual shareholder meetings. Each time, the CSA has faced criticism for continuing to provide companies with

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