Glass Lewis’ Proxy Season Review for Hong Kong explains how a series of notable regulatory updates shaped annual general meeting agendas, and provides data illustrating recent shareholder voting and board composition trends along with Benchmark Policy recommendations for the 2023 AGM season.
Key Findings:
- Despite recent Listing Rule amendments aimed to mitigate the impact on board independence, excessive board
tenure remains a persistent issue in Hong Kong. - The number of single gender boards has steadily declined over the past three years as companies prepare for
HKEX’s 31 December 2024 deadline, but women remain severely underrepresented at board level. - The PRC’s removal of the distinction between domestic and foreign-listed shares led to a spike in the number of
article amendment proposals among Hong Kong-listed issuers. - We observed a 65% surge in equity plan proposals, with many companies amending their existing option
schemes or approving new share award and restricted share plans in response to listing rule changes.
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