'As AGMs go digital, firms must offer a new form of scrutiny for shareholders'

Technology has rendered big AGM meet-ups obsolete, but the board still needs to be held to account, says Matthew Lynn

Wooden cubes spelling AGM on an office desk
(Image credit: Getty Images)

It is surprising that in an age of Zoom, smartphones and remote working, the corporate annual general meeting (AGM) still exists. A hundred years ago, a meeting that gathered everyone together in a faded ballroom in a big, old-fashioned London hotel was the only effective way to communicate directly with shareholders. In the takeover battles of the 1970s and 1980s, it was even the scene of high drama, as the fate of a conglomerate was battled out in a public debate between warring factions.

But the world has changed. Companies can communicate instantly with all their shareholders, meetings can be held online, and votes can be tallied electronically. It hardly seems necessary to gather people all in one place, provide them with tea and biscuits, and sit through lots of dull presentations and re-elect the board.

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Matthew Lynn

Matthew Lynn is a columnist for Bloomberg, and writes weekly commentary syndicated in papers such as the Daily Telegraph, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald. He is also an associate editor of Spectator Business, and a regular contributor to The Spectator. Before that, he worked for the business section of the Sunday Times for ten years. 

He has written books on finance and financial topics, including Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis and The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031. Matthew is also the author of the Death Force series of military thrillers and the founder of Lume Books, an independent publisher.