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| gettyimagesbank |
By Yoon Ja-young
As shareholder activism becomes the hottest talking point in shareholder meetings, a record-high number of companies are expected to introduce electronic voting systems this year.
According to the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), which provides the electronic voting system known as K-VOTE, the number of firms that are using K-VOTE in their shareholders' meetings so far this year has already surpassed the last year's figure. Currently, local companies use the electronic voting system of either KSD or Samsung Securities, enabling investors to exercise their voting rights through computers or smartphones.
Since 483 firms used K-VOTE at their shareholders' meetings in 2018, the figure has been continuously rising, standing at 564 in 2019, 659 in 2020, 843 in 2021 and 974 last year.
In the case of Samsung Securities, a total of 820 companies, including KCC, HD Hyundai and GS, have signed up to use its electronic voting system. The figure has been rising steeply since 2019 when it launched the service ― from 278 in 2020 to 466 in 2021 and 640 last year.
Most in management were previously reluctant to adopt an electronic voting system. But the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the rise of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles, have prompted more companies to adopt the system.
At Samsung Electronics' shareholders' meeting, held in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province last week, around 600 attended in person. This is even smaller than the 1,600 attendees last year when wearing a face mask indoors was still mandatory. It is only a tiny fraction of the tech giant's 5.81 million shareholders.
Samsung Electronics also has been using an electronic voting system since 2020.
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