Cashpoints?
No, that’s ATMs. This is about annual meetings. All firms quoted on the London Stock exchange are required to stage a get together for shareholders once a year.
Board members are re-elected (or not) and other matters such as the pay report are also voted on, although investors have little power.
Holding directors accountable: A shareholder speaking at the Bank of Ireland AGM in Dublin last month
The results of ballots are not binding – they just show sentiment.
What’s the point?
Directors need to be held accountable to their owners and this is the one chance the board have to explain what they have achieved (or not), run through the accounts and, most importantly, take questions, which can be awkward, random, or downright offensive.
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In theory. Investors have to be given advanced notice and given a copy of the agenda.
Firms set out their stall but many hold their shareholders in contempt and resent being probed about their performance.
The convention is to allow media to cover such events to inform shareholders who are unable to attend.
Convention?
Well, there is no legal obligation to throw open your doors, but most chairmen with half a brain and nothing to hide are happy for the event to be noted for the public record.
Ocado chairman Lord Grade fails on both counts. He has closed the doors to the annual meeting being staged at 11am today amid criticism over the firm’s pay rewards.