Shin & Kim LLC (Managing Partner Oh Jong-han) said on the 14th that, ahead of the full implementation of the electronic shareholders' meeting system in 2027, it will strengthen integrated advisory services for listed companies with a focus on the "electronic shareholders' meeting TF."
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, listed companies with total assets of 2 trillion won or more must hold an in-person shareholders' meeting together with an electronic shareholders' meeting in which shareholders attend online to exercise voting rights and more.
Before the system takes effect, corporations must put in place selection of an electronic meeting administrator and an outsourcing contract, internal operating standards, notices of convocation, shareholder identity verification and proxy attendance, and standards for questions, remarks, and the exercise of voting rights. They must also prepare measures to address communication failures and protect personal information.
Since July last year, when the amended Commercial Act was promulgated, Sejong has operated an electronic shareholders' meeting TF to review related operational issues. After diagnosing each corporation's articles of incorporation and shareholder composition, the current status of electronic voting, and the potential for disputes, the TF plans to provide step-by-step support from board resolutions and notices of convocation to day-of-meeting operations, minutes preparation, and post-meeting dispute response.
The TF is led by Managing Partner Lee Dong-gun of Sejong and includes attorneys Lee Sook-mi, Oh Sae-ron, Choi Myeong, Baek Seung-woo, and Ahn Jeong-ho, as well as Ahn Hyo-seop, head of the Corporate Governance Research Institute. The plan is to advise not only on corporate law but also on personal information and information and communications regulations, and practical shareholder response.
Sejong will also hold an online and offline seminar on the 29th under the theme "A to Z for preparing a successful electronic shareholders' meeting." Together with IR Kudos, an electronic meeting administrator, it will cover practical preparation procedures such as selecting an administrator and entering an outsourcing contract, in-house operating standards and notices of convocation, day-of-meeting operations, and post-meeting records and disclosures.
It also plans to demonstrate via system screens situations that may occur at an actual meeting, such as identity verification of electronic attendees and proxy attendance, processing of questions and remarks, vote tabulation, cumulative voting, and responses to communication failures.
Managing Partner Lee Dong-gun of Sejong said, "An electronic shareholders' meeting is a system that goes beyond merely streaming an existing shareholders' meeting online to both guarantee the rights of shareholders who attend electronically and ensure the legality of intent and resolutions, as well as fairness with in-person shareholders."