Samsung Electronics urges shareholders to use electronic voting for AGM amid coronavirus

SAMSUNG SDS

16/03/2020 05:00

SEOUL, March 16 (Reuters) - Technology giant Samsung
Electronics  005930.KS  has adopted electronic voting for the
first time ever for this year's annual general meeting (AGM) on
March 18, urging shareholders to use it to help curb the spread
of coronavirus. 
    Samsung's AGM is taking place at a convention centre in
Suwon, about 30 km (18 miles) south of Seoul, with a capacity of
about 3,000 people according to the centre website. Samsung's
investor relations website on Monday urged shareholders to take
advantage of the chance to vote via the internet up to March 17.
    The company conducted a 1-to-50 stock split in 2018, leading
to a massive increase in shareholder numbers.
    In what is the second-largest outbreak in Asia after China,
South Korea reported 74 new coronavirus infections on Monday,
bringing the country's total to 8,236.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2B90G5 
    Reflecting guidance from the Korea Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention guidance, Samsung specifically called for
electronic voting by shareholders with symptoms, or who have
visited regions with high-risk regions, or who are identified as
high-risk such as pregnant women and those aged 65 or above. 
    The shareholders' meeting will be equipped with thermal
cameras and contactless thermometers, and shareholders with
fever or cough symptoms may be restricted from entering. Those
with a fever at the scene will be directed to a location away
from the main hall, the website said. 
    Other Samsung affiliates, including Samsung
Electro-Mechanics  009150.KS , Samsung SDI  006400.KS  and
Samsung SDS  018260.KS  will also hold AGMs on Wednesday. 
    World's second-largest memory chip maker SK Hynix
 000660.KS , which will hold its AGM on Friday, plans to seat
shareholders about two metres away from each other, a spokesman
said. 
    

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))