ADP launches electronic
voting system in Japan
ADP Investor Communication
Services (ADP ICS) is implementing an electronic
proxy voting platform in Japan that it says
will give shareholders more time to review annual
meeting materials before casting their votes.
Before this platform was initiated, says ADP,
shareholders of companies in Japan had little
or no time to review meeting materials and vote
in an informed manner, especially in the critical
June voting season when over 2,000 companies
hold meetings within days, if not hours,
of each other.
Now, for companies that participate on the
platform, that period is extended to almost
12 days from less than three.
What the ADP release does not point out is
that electronic proxy voting is not new to
Japan. Last year, about 400 corporations,
including Sony, NTT and Panasonic, used virtual
voting at annual meetings. Shareholders even
had the ability to vote by mobile phone,
though ADP does not seem to be offering this
service.
ADP’s platform, a joint venture with the
Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) and the Japan Securities
Dealers Association (JSDA), will be provided
for both local Japanese investors and in English
for ADP’s existing 2,200 ProxyEdge clients
around the world.
Corporate issuer interest in joining the platform
has been high, says ADP. Eventually the hope
is to have almost 2,500 Japanese issuers on
the platform.
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release
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