Chronic clustering of shareholder meetings undermines government-led campaign again this year

A stock ticker at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 6,244.13 points, Friday, down 63.14 points, or 1 percent, from the previous session. Yonhap

More than 70 percent of KOSPI-listed companies schedule this year’s shareholder meetings on just three overlapping days, a chronic and troubling practice that undermines a government-led campaign to spread dates and boost shareholder participation.

According to the Korea Listed Companies Association, 436 of the 593 companies on the main index — about 73 percent — cram their shareholder meetings into March 24, 26 or 31, with 272 of them holding theirs on March 26, the busiest day.

The companies involved include Hyundai Motor and Doosan Enerbility, all ranked in the top 10 by market capitalization.

The heavily concentrated schedule persists despite financial authorities' yearslong efforts to spread out meeting dates and enhance the rights of individual investors.

Market observers said shareholder participation is becoming increasingly important as more Koreans invest in the stock market, with the KOSPI accelerating its rally and surpassing key milestones, including the 6,000-point mark.

“Under the circumstances, the crammed schedule highlights that the government’s efforts are not working effectively,” a market observer said.

He pointed out that financial authorities have been running a joint program since 2018 with publicly traded companies on the KOSPI and the secondary bourse Kosdaq, encouraging listed companies to voluntarily comply with scheduling guidelines.

Another market observer said, “Companies’ willingness is now far more important than institutional reforms, because otherwise investors would not have sufficient time to exercise their voting rights properly.”

Meanwhile, a business industry official argued that companies are not deliberately clustering shareholder meetings, but that it naturally results from preparing consolidated financial statements or undergoing external audits in a timely manner.

“In other words, measures aimed at dispersing shareholder meetings place a burden on companies,” the official said.