To continuously improve the corporate governance structure and gather the strength of all members, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) will hold its tenth general meeting on April 18, 2020. The regular convening of general meetings is the statutory requirement of the "Measures for the Administration of Stock Exchanges" and the "SSE Constitution" for the exchange to continuously enhance the corporate governance. In order to continue to implement the requirements for the pandemic prevention and control, the general meeting will be held in the form of video conference. The topics of the meeting will include the election of the new Board of Governors, the Board of Supervisors and the Policy Advisory Committee of Board of Governors of the SSE, and a comprehensive review of the relevant work reports of the SSE and revision of the "SSE Constitution". More than 120 SSE members across the country will attend the meeting despite the geographical constraints. Senior officials of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and representatives of the CSRC departments will also be invited to participate in the meeting by video.
Against the backdrop of strict implementation of pandemic prevention and control, the meeting shows two unique features. First, the general meeting will be held in the form of video conference for the first time. With the SSE’s dedicated system of “Zhengtong Cloud Meeting”, the meeting will enable "face-to-face" exchanges, joint deliberation on reports, and the online exercise of voting and election rights. The new online conference system will not only eliminate the cross-regional barrier, but also enable the SSE to better serve members and support the entire market, and thereby better implement the requirements in the important instructions of the Party Central Committee and the CSRC Party Committee for actively performing the duties, improving market services and playing a better role for the market. Secondly, by facilitating the online communication between different regions, the role of the members of the boards of governors and supervisors has been brought into full play. In the previous general meetings, it is customary that the briefings would be held in different regions ahead of the general meeting to inform the members of the preparations for the meeting and solicit opinions from the members face to face. In light of the pandemic, the boards of governors and supervisors communicated one-on-one with all members by video, telephone and other means ahead of the meeting, informing them in detail of the agenda and form of the general meeting, and the nomination scope, election procedures and principles for the boards of governors and supervisors and the policy advisory committee. They also collected and replied to the opinions and suggestions of the members, so as to ensure the smooth convening of the general meeting.
The general meeting of members is an important feature of the membership-based exchanges and serves as a bulwark of performing the self-regulation function. In recent years, the SSE has continuously strengthened the governance mechanism, diversified the forms of convening the general meetings, and created synergy of all parties concerned through the efficient and convenient convening of the member meetings. Members have also used the platform of the general meeting to, on the basis of their own roles in the market, vigorously participate in the governance of the exchange, deliberate on the major issues of the exchange, earnestly put forward constructive opinions and suggestions on the development of the industry and the exchange, and continuously contribute to the growth of the capital market.
