Below are key takeaways from ISS’ recently released 2023 Proxy Season Preview – Taiwan. The full report is available to institutional subscribers by logging into ProxyExchange then selecting the Governance Exchange and its Report Center tab and to corporate subscribers by logging into Governance Analytics then selecting the Governance Exchange and the Report Center tab.
- Climate change: The first phase of the green house gas emission reporting process is set to commence in 2023 and conclude by Aug. 31, 2023. The reporting obligation applies to all publicly listed companies with paid-up capital exceeding TWD 10 billion, as well as companies meeting specific criteria.
- Gender diversity: Greater female representation on boards is expected as listed companies are required to disclose board gender distribution and diversity policies in their annual reports from 2022 onwards.
- Regulatory amendments to limit independent directors’ rights are underway: Draft amendments to the Securities and Exchange Act seeking to remove several rights previously exercised by individual independent directors, including the rights to convene shareholder meetings, are pending passage by the Legislative Yuen. Once passed, these rights shall be exercised by the Audit Committee through a collegial process.
- More timely disclosure of shareholding changes: New amendments to the Securities and Exchange Act lower the shareholding declaration threshold from 10 percent to 5 percent and require shareholders meeting the threshold to make declaration for every shareholding change exceeding 1 percent.
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By: Elodie Zeng, Rui Ning Cheng, Yuan Yao, Ada Lu, Xiao Xie, Son Eng Lim
