The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia has lodged its submission on the Chartered Secretaries of Australia (CSA) discussion paper, Rethinking the AGM.  
 
The Institute agrees with CSA’s views that the role of the AGM has changed. In principle, the Institute agrees with the proposals for reform and prefers that this is provided through best practice guidance and encouragement to adopt, rather than by mandating the changes and creating additional legislation. The focus of the AGM to provide more accountability to shareholders regarding the board’s decisions is seen by the Institute as a positive approach to encourage shareholder engagement. The AGM is the key method for the board to engage with retail shareholders and proposed changes should improve the effectiveness of this engagement process. 
 
The submission is available for download here (PDF). 
 
(This article was taken from ANT26/2008 and is current up to 11 July 2008.)