New regulation on general shareholders’ meetings enters into force

The new regulation prepared by the Bank of Russia accounts for changed laws, evolved information technologies and legal practice. It will replace a similar document approved by the FFMS in 2012.

In particular, the document defines the specifics of preparing for, calling and holding general shareholders’ meetings with account for the new possibility of voting by filling in an online form. It also solves issues related to the participation in the general meeting by shareholders whose shares are held by nominee shareholders on their behalf. Moreover, the document streamlines the procedure for the joint execution of rights by a group of shareholders.

The new regulation has been developed using the analysis of how general shareholders’ meetings have been held over the last five years as well as the most frequently asked questions and the most frequent errors and violations that were identified when preparing for, calling and holding a meeting.

‘Publishing this regulation is an important step towards the improvement of corporate procedures related to preparing for, calling and holding general shareholders’ meetings’, noted Elena Kuritsyna, Director of the Corporate Affairs Department of the Bank of Russia. ‘The new rules provide issuers with a wide range of possibilities with regard to organising meetings and will streamline the process the rights of shareholders are executed’.