According to the Swedish Companies Act, the general meeting is the Company’s highest decision-making body. At the general meeting, the shareholders exercise their right to vote on key issues, for example, the adoption of income statements and balance sheets, appropriation of the Company’s earnings, discharge from liability for Board members and the CEO, election of board members and auditors and remuneration to the Board and the auditors.
Notice to the general meeting
The Annual General Meeting must be held within six months of the end of the financial year. In addition to the Annual General Meeting, an extraordinary general meeting can be called. According to the Articles of Association, notices to the general meeting take place through an advertisement in Post- och Inrikes Tidningar and by publishing the notice on the Company’s website. An announcement that a notice has been issued must also be simultaneously published in Dagens Industri.
Right to participate in the general meeting
Shareholders who wish to participate in the general meeting must firstly be entered in the share register kept by Euroclear on the day falling six banking days before the Meeting, and secondly register with the Company for participation in the general meeting no later than the day specified in the notice to the general meeting. Shareholders can attend general meetings in person or by proxy and can also be assisted by a maximum of two people. It is usually possible for shareholders to register for the general meeting in several different ways, which are detailed in the notice of the general meeting. In addition to notifying the Company of their intention to participate in the general meeting, shareholders whose shares are trustee-registered through a bank or other trustee must request that their shares be temporarily registered in their own name in the share register maintained by Euroclear in order to have the right to participate in the general meeting. A shareholder or his representative is entitled to vote for all shares that the shareholder holds or represents.
Initiative from the shareholders
Shareholders who wish to have a matter dealt with at the general meeting must send a written request to the board. The request must normally reach the board well in advance of the general meeting, in accordance with the information provided on the Company’s website in connection with the publication of the time and place of the general meeting.