Fukui Bank held a general shareholders’ meeting on Sunday. The first case in Hokuriku [25-year ago today]

 

As the first case in the Hokuriku region of Japan, the Fukui Bank held its annual general shareholders’ meeting on a Sunday for individual
shareholders’ to attend with ease.

 

Although the Sunday shareholders’ meeting was helpful for the attendance of several women and families, only 166 people attended due to the rainy weather, which was seven more than the previous year.

Q. Is it unusual for shareholders’ meetings on Sundays in Japan?

Ordinary shareholders’ meetings are often held in June because the fiscal year for most companies ends in March. In three months after the end of the fiscal year in March, the majority of the companies held shareholders’ meetings on the previous business day (weekday) of the last business day (weekday) of June.

 

For example, June 30, 1999, was a Wednesday, so June 29 (Tuesday) became the “intensive day.”

 

The reason why many companies with fiscal year end at the end of March held their general shareholders’ meetings on the “intensive day” was to make it more difficult for “special” shareholders (so-called corporate racketeers) to intervene in general shareholders’ meetings.

 

Twenty-five years ago, in 1999, nearly 90% of listed companies held regular general shareholders’ meetings on the “intensive day.”

 

However, holding general shareholders’ meetings on the “intensive day” was also problematic because individual shareholders having their jobs had difficulty attending them on weekdays.

 

Although the rate of the meetings held on the “intensive day” has been declining, and as of 2018, it was around 30%, not a few meetings are still on weekdays in the last week of June.

参考
福井新聞
北國新聞
富山新聞
株主総会集中率の低下に限界感 - 大和総研
根強い株主総会の６月開催、集中率59％に－ガバナンス改革の遅れ懸念 - Bloomberg