SGX boosts proxy-vote response with Broadridge

Source: Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (BR) announced today that Singapore Exchange (SGX), in its capacity as a publicly listed company, increased year-on-year investor proxy response by approximately 300% using Broadridge's proxy management solution.

The solution has helped SGX to achieve its goal of bringing greater transparency, accuracy and operational efficiency to its shareholder communications.

Broadridge's solution for Singapore is designed to transform the proxy voting process and establish a strong foundation from which to advance corporate governance. It has enabled SGX to transition from a manually intensive process to an efficient, highly automated service that gives investors the opportunity to sign up for electronic delivery of future communications.

The service automatically captures holding records from the shareholder register and reconciles any holdings adjustments up to two days before the AGM. Investors receive a personalized voting form on which to return their voting decisions, simplifying the overall voting experience and enabling a more efficient reconciliation process. Beginning with SGX's next general meeting, shareholders will have the choice of submitting proxy votes via a prepaid postal response, as was the case this year, or electronically via a voting website. An online portal will enable SGX to track, monitor and audit all activity in real time, in advance of the meeting.

In addition to being the first user of Broadridge's solution for Singapore, SGX is also fully committed to working in close collaboration with Broadridge to encourage market-wide adoption of the service.

Bruce Babcock, President, Investor Communication Solutions International, Broadridge, said, "The increased returns and process improvements for SGX's 2012 AGM have been transformative, giving them a secure, streamlined and investor-centric service that truly raises the governance bar in Singapore. Some investors have also opted to receive future communications electronically, which will drive down costs, further improve service levels and enable a more environmentally-friendly approach. The value of this service is now unquestionably proven, and there is a clear, market-wide opportunity for all listed listed companies to take full advantage of this opportunity, while promoting Singapore as a governance centre of excellence."

Broadridge has a growing track-record for delivering country-level solutions for listed companies in Asia. Earlier this year, a Broadridge joint venture in Japan with the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Japanese Securities Dealers Association announced that the 400th issuer had joined its electronic voting platform.

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