Additional Guidance on the Conduct of General Meetings During Elevated Safe Distancing Period

Singapore, 13 April 2020 ....  the Monetary Authority of Singapore

The Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) have prepared a checklist to guide listed and non-listed entities [1]  on the conduct of general meetings during the period when elevated safe distancing measures are in place.

2.     The checklist (at Annex) provides further guidance on Part 4 of the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 (Act) [2]  and the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings for Companies, Variable Capital Companies, Business Trusts, Unit Trusts and Debenture Holders) Order 2020 (Order). The Order was issued by the Ministry of Law this morning. Listed and non-listed entities should refer to the checklist when conducting general meetings during this elevated safe distancing period.

3.     Should issuers require certain essential persons to be in the same physical location to facilitate the conduct of a ‘virtual’ meeting, The Ministry for Trade and Industry would grant an automatic time-limited exemption to permit temporary operations at the same physical location, provided that the number of persons does not exceed 6, and safe distancing measures are complied with at the venue.

4.     Issuers whose annual general meetings are due to be held during 16 April to 31 July 2020 may alternatively choose to defer the meetings by up to 60 days, as previously announced by ACRA and SGX RegCo [3] .