General Meetings of Public Joint Stock Companies and Investment Funds via Physical or Online Attendance

Al Abri: Online meetings adds flexibility and widens Participation

The Capital Market Authority started during the first quarter of this year receiving applications for holding general meetings which are the supreme power in the public companies and funds for having extensive powers such as voting and objection of resolutions in addition to assessing the competency of the directors and their ability to direct the company or the service providers for the investment funds and their role in the election of  members of the board of directors able to put in place and follow up the implementation of the strategic plans to achieve the interests of shareholders and unitholders.

On this matter, Mohammed Said Al Abri, Vice President for the Capital Sector said the season of general meetings is an important stage for the pivotal role of the members of the general meeting because they have extensive powers in the companies and the funds to steer the business, follow up and holding the management accountable and to vote or object the resolutions tabled in the meeting further to the role of the general meeting in assessing the performance of the board of directors and the management of the company or the service providers for the funds during the past year with the attendance of the auditors and legal advisor of the company.

Al Abri added that the Omani capital sector was able to act with adequate resilience to convene the general meeting during the pandemic to ensure the continuity of the business vial the electronic platform for the general meetings administered  by Muscat Clearing and Depository Company (MCD) coupled with the issuance of the rules for convening the general meetings online that ensured the rights of all stakeholders.

Al Abri pointed out that the platform represents a reliable electronic base for convening the general meetings and the  related businesses which was prepared in accordance with the legal and procedural requirements. He expressed happiness for the success achieved by the capital market in convening the general meetings online for the third consecutive seasons adding this move  is a breakthrough  in the process of the evolution of the Omani capital market within the CMA’s efforts to digitalize the  services of the  sector, and the rapid response was in line with the legislations supervised by the CMA through employing the technology in the businesses of the companies and funds which are basic requirements of the business to attract foreign and domestic capital to the stock exchange and opening the way for the economic entities to achieve the Oman Vision 2040 to involve the private sector  in the  economic ecosystem as real partner in the comprehensive development plans and programs, and to stimulate the role of the capital market in financing the economic development.

Al Abri added that MCD continued, with its partners, the development of the platform whether with regard to new e-services or addressing the observations raised in the past years emphasizing that the development of the platform is continuing to ensure high quality and safety of the general meeting processes.

CMA emphasizes that the public joint stock companies, investment funds, auditors and legal advisors must comply with  the laws regulating the general meetings and the rules for convening general meetings physically or online.

The CMA has issued  last year circular No. 4/2021 which included a set of procedures to be taken into consideration when preparing for convening the general meetings of public joint stock companies and investment funds including specifying the venue of the meeting in the notice as the shareholder or unitholder is entitled to exercise the right to attend the meeting physically or online as provided by MCD, and  the directors and those who are required to attend physically must attend to  interact with the shareholders and unitholders whether attending physically or online.

The circular also emphasized that the  notice must be published  at least 15 days prior to the meeting after being approved by the CMA and the notice will be sent automatically to the shareholders and unitholders through the platform administered by MCD without the need to send hardcopies of the notice to the registered addresses of the shareholders or unitholders.