and they are enthusiastic in studying and preparing themselves to ask questions in shareholders meetings. Their questions range from business direction, fraudulent practices, governance system to code of conducts and the questions have grown to cover variety issues. Apparently, the purpose of the attendance has shied away from collecting souvenirs which is in accordance with the results of the survey on souvenir giving by listed companies. The survey, conducted by the Thai Investors Association, revealed that 13.91 percent of listed companies gave souvenirs in 2017, decreasing from 81.23 percent in 2014. For this reason, the board of directors should alter their thoughts and behaviors in consistent with the changing shareholders’ level of participation. Members of the board of directors have begun to understand that shareholders’ concerns could be beneficial to corporations and that they should generate higher shareholder engagement level. The approach can help to make a better understanding and reduce pressure on listed companies. In addition, it can lead to opportunities and benefits for the companies as third parties may be able to point out risk factors or errors invisible to or overlooked by the board of directors.
89 percent of members of the board of directors agree to allow shareholders to engage in consultation with the organization. Accordingly, listed companies should define their principles in information disclosure that adheres to fairness in disclosing information to all shareholders equally and never allows any group of shareholders to benefit from the information more than another groups. Moreover, the principles should be in line with corporate policies in disclosing information to avoid internal contradiction. It is important to specify persons responsible on information disclosure and to establish corporate strategies, governance practices, long-term value generation as well as roles and duties of the board of directors. Assigned persons should be included in the board of directors while CEO or top executives should be responsible for answering questions which often involve details on performance, financial status and operation. Clearly defining roles and responsibilities can help listed companies to disclose information correctly and clearly while it can mitigate risks and prevent damage to the companies. ---------------------------------------------------
Guidelines for communicating and generating shareholder engagement effectively include distributing news updates and disclosing information correctly, consistently, transparently and sufficiently through convenient channels such as annual reports, company websites, shareholders’ annual general meetings, analyst meetings, investors’ opportunity days, road shows and company visits. A survey on opinions of participants in the IOD training on Board Matters and Trends (BMT) revealed that
3L"DLAW4}}L.L dL?K"WDQG ÚÛ² ÍÖáÉÌÉ ÝÕÔÝÖÏÛÝÉ Senior CG Specialist Curriculum / Director Development Thai IOD
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