French Voting Reform Facilitates Proxy Voting for Nonresident InvestorsWashington, DC, July 18, 2002 - France recently enacted reform measures that will streamline and modernize its share voting system, and facilitate proxy voting by nonresident investors. Among other things, the new rules: - abolish the practice of share blocking, replacing it with a procedure that will allow issuers to verify before a meeting that a shareholder or agent is eligible to vote, and the number of shares to be voted;
- expressly permit global custodians to vote on behalf of non-resident shareholders, provided the ultimate shareholder agrees to be identified if the issuing company so requests; and
- allow internet voting.
The changes address several issues raised in the Institute's 2000 Survey of Global Corporate Governance Issues for Mutual Funds.
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