Annual Meetings Of Shareholders

Follow these simple steps for AGMs: plan, plan, plan.

Every corporate statute requires a corporation, whether private or public, to hold an annual meeting of shareholders, commonly referred to as an annual general meeting or an AGM. (Any meeting of shareholders other than an AGM is a "special meeting".) An AGM is where the directors of the company are elected or re-elected, the financial statements for the prior financial year are formally presented to the shareholders, and the company's auditors are reappointed.

The rules and considerations governing AGMs arise from corporate and securities laws, a corporation's articles, by-laws, and shareholder agreement (if one is in place), and if a company is public, stock exchange policies. AGM procedures are also drawn from the same democratic principles that apply to parliamentary bodies, in order to promote fairness, reasonableness, and good faith towards all who are entitled to take part.