Commencement of Electronic Provision System for Shareholders' Meeting Materials (2)

◆The revised Companies Act of 2019 initiates an electronic provision system for shareholders' meeting materials. This system provides, in principle, materials for shareholders' meetings of listed companies held on or after March 1, 2023 by three weeks prior to the date of the shareholders' meeting electronically rather than on hard copy materials. Originally, a company has stipulated in its Articles of Incorporation that the company shall voluntarily amend its Articles of Incorporation and utilize the system. However, listed companies are effectively subject to the compulsory application of the system under the laws.

◆Among TOPIX500 member companies prior to the adoption of this system (for general shareholders' meetings held between September 2021 and August 2022), 89% posted their shareholders' meeting materials on “Listed Company Search” provided by the Tokyo Stock Exchange three weeks prior to the date of the general shareholders' meeting. In addition, 95% of the companies have submitted resolutions to amend their Articles of Incorporation to their general shareholders’ meeting for the purpose of adopting the system.

◆The majority of the listed companies post their shareholders' meeting materials electronically three weeks before the date of the shareholders' meeting, thus it is unlikely that there will be any major confusion, such as their being a number of listed companies unable to respond to issues such as the prompt dispatch of general shareholders' meeting information due to the start of the application of the system.