NSD introduces ISO 20022 for e-proxy voting 23 July 2015Moscow Reporter: Stephanie Palmer
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Russian issuers have moved to ISO standards for messaging and e-proxy voting at their shareholder meetings.
In May and June, when the majority of shareholder meetings were conducted, 79 issuers used the ISO 20022 messaging standards – the international standard for corporate actions.
Shareholders now have the opportunity to receive meeting information and materials remotely, and can also vote on agenda items, and access meeting results.
The move intends to improve the quality of corporate governance in Russia and to make it easier for shareholders to exercise their rights. As part of the Corporate Actions Reform, the eventual aim to make Russian assets more attractive.
It should also help to make procedures more transparent and convenient, and reduce costs of participation in meetings.
In August 2014, Russia’s central security depository, the National Securities Depository (NSD) launched e-proxy voting on a local basis, and the ISO standard became available in April this year.
Eddie Astanin, chairman of the NSD’s executive board, said: “Previously, we used international experience and brought to Russia those institutions and technologies that had become best practice, for example, the central securities depository. However, after the implementation of electronic technologies at shareholder meetings, the Russian financial infrastructure has moved to the forefront of the global industry.”
He added: “We have every reason to speak about a significant coverage and a gradual switch to the international format for companies that are still using the local format.”
Russia becomes the latest market to use electronic voting to increase participation. When it was implemented in Turkey in 2011, attendance at shareholder meetings increased more than five-fold.
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