--- Successful cooperation will support improved corporate governance processes in Taiwan through international proxy voting automation
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Aug. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., (NYSE: BR) a leading provider of technology-driven solutions for financial firms and corporate issuers globally, has reached an agreement with the Taiwanese central depository, Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corporation (TDCC), to establish direct links with the TDCC's new electronic voting system for Taiwanese shareholder meetings, StockVote. For listed companies that elect to use the StockVote system, direct voting into the system by Broadridge will significantly enhance the level of straight-through processing (STP) in the process, greatly improving voting deadlines for overseas investors and helping to eliminate multiple manual processes undertaken by local sub-custodian banks supporting Broadridge's clients in the market today.
StockVote was developed by TDCC to take advantage of recent regulatory changes in Taiwan that allow electronic voting, and the system has been used successfully by local investors for several years. By working with TDCC, Broadridge will bring the benefits of StockVote to foreign shareholders voting in Taiwan through Broadridge's global proxy service for global custodians and their institutional investor clients. Currently, voting in Taiwan is predominately handled manually by local banks, often including mandatory meeting attendance. With the cooperation of the sub-custodians and global custodians, Broadridge will send overseas voting directly to StockVote through secure electronic means, thereby eliminating the manual handling of paper voting and meeting attendance by the local banks for participating Taiwanese issuers.
Sherman Lin, President of TDCC, said, "We have listened to the concerns of investors about shareholder voting in Taiwan, and have worked with our regulators to update local regulations to enable improvements to the process. We are pleased that the necessary regulatory changes are for the most part now complete, and local investors have been able to benefit from the improved process. We see working with Broadridge to bring these benefits to overseas investors as a critical next step to further improving corporate governance in Taiwan."
"As interest in cross-border proxy voting and corporate governance has grown in the last few years, Broadridge has worked with local parties wherever possible to improve the local processes and the ability of our clients to vote. While Taiwan has required our clients to deploy manual processes for many years given the regulatory environment and market practices, the development of StockVote by TDCC and the possibilities raised by our cooperation with them promise to bring significant benefits to our overseas clients in their efforts to support improved corporate governance globally," said Demi Derem, General Manager of Broadridge's global proxy service. "We look forward to working with the TDCC to bring the combined benefits of StockVote and our global proxy service to our clients."
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) is the leading provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and corporate issuers globally. Broadridge's investor communications, securities processing and business process outsourcing solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90% of public companies and mutual funds in North America, and processes more than $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 6,700 full-time associates in 14 countries.
For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com
About TDCC
Established in October 1989, Taiwan Depository and Clearing Corporation (TDCC) is central securities depository (CSD) in Taiwan and plays the role as an essential infrastructure of Taiwan financial markets, providing custody, securities settlement, book-entry transfer, and issuer services. TDCC maintains more than 15 million investor accounts under 2,257 participants, with a total market value of USD $1.2 trillion for all types of securities under custody as of the end of 2013. TDCC engaged with e-voting services, named STOCKVOTE, from 2008, and it is the sole e-voting platform in Taiwan. TDCC has been connecting with international financial markets to keep pace with global developments, and has conducted international business related to bonds, offshore funds, and cross-border STP voting.
Further information, please visit: www.tdcc.com.tw.
Source: Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
