Under the current Polish regulations, only shareholders or their representatives must be present at a general meeting in order to use their voting powers, as regulations do not permit “distant voting” of any kind.
However, Polish public companies reserve an option to provide an enriched proxy voting service, which allows shareholders to actively participate in the general meeting without being present. The shareholder can watch general meeting proceedings, including the voting process, but can also send enquiries and voting instruction to its proxy that is present at the meeting.
The service may be provided by a company with close cooperation of WSE subsidiary, InfoGielda, the provider of the service. The technical requirements for the issuer, shareholder and their appointed proxies are not high, contends ING. But the service hasn’t quite caught on, with under 10 now using the service.