Just Share has taken Africa’s biggest bank by assets, Standard Bank, to task for its decision to hold an electronic-only annual general meeting (AGM) on June 20, which the shareholder activism organisation said was a “poor approach to corporate governance and stakeholder engagement”.
Writing in a briefing about the bank’s latest climate-related disclosure, Just Share said the reversion to online-only AGMs by some JSE-listed companies, including Standard Bank, after it had held a hybrid annual meeting last year, appeared to be “a deliberate strategy to shut down contestation on crucial issues, including the potential for protests”.
At last year’s AGM, there were protests from environmental groups outside the bank’s Johannesburg offices. Just Share said yesterday such protests were effectively managed by companies around the world.
Standard Bank said in response to Business Report questions that its board believed that a virtual meeting would provide the most effective platform and opportunity for all shareholders to participate “meaningfully and substantively” in the AGM.
In considering the virtual format, the bank had taken into consideration shareholder attendance, as an increased tendency was observed among shareholders to attend AGMs virtually, with minimal in-person attendance.
The bank said the virtual format was more flexible and convenient in that it allowed shareholders to attend from any location without taking away the ability to interact effectively.
It enabled increased accessibility and engagement, and both globally and locally, there had been instances where AGMs had been disrupted to attempt to force the adjournment of the meetings, without concluding the matters on the agenda.
Environmental groups target financial institution AGMs to drive change among shareholders, because globally, finance flows fall far short of the levels needed to meet climate goals across all sectors and regions, both in terms of increased funding for such change, and lower financing for fossil fuel-burning industry sectors.
In Standard Bank’s 2022 AGM, Just Share and Aeon Investment Management co-filed a resolution, accepted by 99% of the shareholder votes, for the bank to publish a strategy and targets for reducing its financed emissions from oil and gas in alignment with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels.
The resolution also required the bank to disclose, by March 31, 2024, its “baseline financed greenhouse gas emissions from its exposure to oil and gas”.
Standard Bank said yesterday it was not in a position yet to advance comment on the environmental matters before this report was going to print, as they were “technical” in nature.
BUSINESS REPORT