Chairs of 2012 AGMs will hopefully be able to vote undirected
proxies on the remuneration report without having to get ASIC
relief or draft convoluted notices of meeting.
On 24 May the Government moved to fast-track a solution to a
problem that has dogged public company AGMs since the introduction
of the Two Strikes amendments last year. Because of a drafting
error, the amendments prohibited chairs from voting undirected
proxies on the remuneration report – which was exactly
the opposite of what the Government had intended.
The Government initially reacted to this problem by tagging an
amendment onto the end of a consumer credit Bill late last year.
However, when that Bill became bogged down in parliamentary
processes, the Government had to admit that the proxy problem might
not be rectified in time for the 2012 AGM season.
