Annual General Meetings - Do They Work?

Annual General Meetings ("AGMs") are failing to meet their traditional objectives and the law governing them may require radical changes to rectify this. A Consultation Document entitled "Company General Meetings and Shareholder Communications" dated October 1999 issued by The Company Law Review Steering Group looks at the problems.

Purpose of AGMs - Theory

AGMs are often the only formal link between shareholder involvement and a company's management and, as such, have been traditionally intended to achieve three principle objectives. These are:

(1) the provision of information by management to shareholders;

(2) the questioning of management by shareholders and discussion and debate of formal business of the Company;