In what ways can questions raised by shareholders at the general meeting of shareholders be responded to by the company?

In what ways can questions raised by shareholders at the general meeting of shareholders be responded to by the company?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 115 of the 2020 Enterprise Law on the rights of shareholders common:

Rights of common shareholders

1. Common shareholders have the following rights:

a) Attend and speak at the General Meeting of Shareholders and exercise the right to vote directly or through an authorized representative or in other forms prescribed by the company’s Charter and law. Each common share has one vote;

b) Receive dividends at the level decided by the General Meeting of Shareholders;

c) Prioritize buying new shares corresponding to the ownership ratio of common shares of each shareholder in the company;

d) Freely transfer your shares to others, except for the cases specified in Clause 3 of Article 120, Clause 1, Article 127 of this Law and other relevant legal provisions;

dd) Review, look up and extract information about names and contact addresses in the list of shareholders with voting rights; request to correct your inaccurate information;

e) Review, look up, extract or copy the company charter, minutes of the General Meeting of Shareholders and resolutions of the General Meeting of Shareholders;

g) When the company dissolves or goes bankrupt, receive a portion of the remaining assets corresponding to the percentage of share ownership in the company.

Thus, it can be seen that, at the general meeting of shareholders, shareholders have the right to discuss and question directly with members of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board.

Although currently, the law does not specifically stipulate in what forms questions raised by shareholders at the general meeting of shareholders can be responded to by the company.

However, in reality, when holding a general meeting of shareholders, it can be seen that questions raised by shareholders should be answered right at the meeting.

If a question cannot be answered immediately, the company needs to provide a written response immediately after the general meeting of shareholders.

When developing the agenda for the General Meeting of Shareholders, does the person convening the General Meeting of Shareholders need to arrange enough time for shareholders to speak?

Pursuant to Clause 5, Article 140 of the 2020 Enterprise Law on convening the General Meeting of Shareholders:

Convening the General Meeting of Shareholders: east

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5. The person convening the General Meeting of Shareholders must perform the following tasks:

a) Prepare a list of shareholders with the right to attend the meeting;

b) Provide information and resolve complaints related to the list of shareholders;

c) Prepare the agenda and content of the meeting;

d) Prepare documents for the meeting meeting;

d) Draft resolution of the General Meeting of Shareholders according to the expected content of the meeting; list and detailed information of candidates in case of electing members of the Board of Directors and Supervisors;

e) Determine the time and location of the meeting;

g) Send a meeting invitation to each shareholder with the right to attend the meeting according to the provisions of this Law;

h) Other work serving the meeting meeting.

6. The costs of convening and conducting the General Meeting of Shareholders as prescribed in Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article will be reimbursed by the company.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the person who convenes the General Meeting of Shareholders is the person responsible for developing the agenda for the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Therefore, when developing the program for the General Meeting of Shareholders, the person convening the General Meeting of Shareholders should allocate enough time for shareholders to speak, discuss, ask questions and enough time for relevant people (Board of Directors, Supervisory Board, Executive Board, independent auditors…) to be able to answer and provide information to shareholders – ensuring the rights of company shareholders.

Is the company’s annual business plan an issue discussed by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders?

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 139 of the Law on Enterprises 2020 on the General Meeting of Shareholders:

General Meeting of Shareholders

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3. The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders discussed and approved the following issues:

a) The company’s annual business plan;

b) Annual financial report;

c) Report of the Board of Directors on the governance and performance of the Board of Directors and each member of the Board of Directors;

d) Report of the Supervisory Board on the company’s business results, the performance of the Board of Directors, Director or General Director;

d) Self-assessment report on the performance of the Supervisory Board and Controllers;

e) Dividend level for each share of each type;

g) Other issues under jurisdiction.

Thus, the company’s annual business plan is one of the issues discussed and approved by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.