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IML helps businesses establish a global standard in corporate governance...

Date: 07 April 2006

A growing global demand for raised standards in corporate governance is undoubtedly one of the most critical challenges that companies now face.

As Governments worldwide begin to tighten regulations on corporate accountability and transparency, it is crucial that we establish a standardized practice in shareholder voting for companies to adhere to.

Electronic voting systems, providing a fast and accurate solution to poll votes are now widely recognised as the most effective means for companies to achieve compliance with best practice and demonstrate an unquestionable commitment to accountability and transparency.

With many more companies now engaged in maximizing shareholder confidence, the trend towards electronic voting is gaining rapid momentum. This year, all of the FTSE 100 companies plan to implement electronic proxy voting for their annual meetings and the latest report by Paul Myners advises all issuers in the FTSE 350 to facilitate electronic voting.

Increased pressure on companies to reform their annual meetings will generate a sharp uptake in automated services and Computershare anticipate that electronic voting will fast become standard practice at annual meetings across the globe. Computershare's recent acquisition of IML, the UK’s market leader in legal voting technology has enabled them to provide their global client base with access to the world’s most advanced and sophisticated voting equipment.

Revolutionary technology

IML’s Annual Meeting Service is an interactive system offering clients a fast and accurate solution to poll votes alongside a comprehensive automated registration process that links meeting attendees with their voting rights. The service uses IML’s Communicator keypads to record votes, weighting each one according to the number of shares held.

Case study

British Airways: Setting the standard for global reform

The Challenge

BA previously employed a 'Ballot Box' system to poll more than 600 poll cards. Keen to demonstrate a commitment to shareholder confidence, BA's primary objective was to incorporate a method of calculating these votes and displaying the live poll result immediately to the meeting.

The Solution

Computershare were able to utilize IML’s expertise and technology to develop an interactive solution specifically tailored to meet with BA’s annual meeting requirements. The solution resulted in a simple and effective Annual Meeting Service that afforded BA with a number of tangible benefits which included:

Automated registration

Registrars used IML’s automated system to scan delegates’ bar-coded attendance slips on arrival, registering them in seconds.

Instant identification

All Shareholders were issued with personal Smartcards, automatically linking them to their voting rights. Before casting their votes, shareholders simply inserted their Smartcards into an electronic keypad and selected either For, Against or Abstain (represented by numbers 1, 2 and 3) on their electronic keypads.

Rapid results

All votes were immediately calculated by the system, avoiding time-consuming manual counts. Shareholders could see the outcome of a vote within seconds and reports were printed instantly, negating the need for BA to advertise results in the following day’s broadsheets.

Accurate results

IML’s system is fully compliant with the data protection act and is proven 100% accurate. Automated data capture and computerized checks enabled BA to answer enquiries fully and quickly.

Detailed audit trail

A full audit trail of attendance and voting was made available as well as a live and proxy vote breakdown, enabling every part of the voting process to undergo detailed scrutiny.

Certainty

All results were made available on poll, rather than on 'show of hands’, creating a far more democratic process and removing the need for contingency arrangements in the event a vote was lost.

Confidence

Once a vote had been received by the system, the Communicator keypad screen displayed a message confirming to the shareholder that their vote had been registered.

BA said:

"It is crucial for BA to demonstrate a pro-active approach to reform in order to highlight our unwavering commitment to living up to the expectations of our shareholders. IML’s electronic keypads modernized our annual meeting and kept it in-line with changing times and technology. More importantly, they have held us and our practices fully accountable and transparent. I firmly believe that electronic voting is the future of annual meetings and will become standardized practice at all annual meetings, providing shareholders with a familiar format they can have complete confidence in".

Sarah Billington, Manager Shareholder Services.

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IML helps businesses establish a global standard in corporate governance...

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