Asteria Updates its Carbon-Neutral Virtual Shareholders’ Meeting*1 to be More Sustainable with Digital Convocation Notices
Press Release
Tokyo — June 8, 2023 — Asteria Corporation (Japan listed, Security Code: 3853) announced today that it has digitized paper convocation notices for the 25th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on June 24 under the system for electronic provision of materials for shareholders’ meetings*2 (hereinafter referred to as “electronic provision system”), which went into effect on September 2022.
Background
The electronic provision system was established by the revision of the Companies Act in December 2019, aiming to cut costs and time required for printing and mailing shareholders’ meetings documents as well as to allow them to review the materials earlier than before. The system obliges companies which hold shareholders’ meetings from September 2022 onward to provide the shareholder meetings materials in a digital format.
To comply with changes in the law, Asteria has decided to fully digitize paper convocation notices for its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders — one of the meeting materials — to be held in June 2023. Until last fiscal year, the documents were sent in an envelope along with a voting form and a written notice. This year, however, the documents will be posted on Asteria’s official website while a voting form and a written notice will be mailed out as usual. This has reduced the weight of an envelope containing necessary documents from about 60 grams to seven grams.
While saving paper and eliminating printing processes through the digitization of shareholders’ meeting materials, Asteria will offset CO2 emissions from operating the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, an initiative it has implemented for the past two years. Through these efforts, Asteria will promote a sustainable Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
[Asteria’s Initiatives for the 25th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders]
| Initiative | Category | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Digitize documents related to Annual General Meeting of Shareholders | New | -Digitalized paper convocation notices comprising about 60 pages, including a cover page -Eliminated almost all printing and mailing processes and reduced the weight of each mail by 90% |
| Print out documents when requested to do so by shareholders | New | Mail paper documents to shareholders who requested them by the deadline in accordance with the law* |
| Asteria’s unique voting system using blockchain technology | Implemented since 2017 | Asteria’s blockchain voting system makes data falsification and tempering in the process of voting, inviting questions, and propose motions almost impossible |
| Offset greenhouse gas emissions from operating Annual General Shareholders of Meetings | Implemented since 2021 | Offset CO2 emissions from using electricity from livestreaming or at the homes of 13 Directors and Audit & Supervisory Board members |
| Virtual shareholders meeting without a designated physical venue | Implemented since 2022 | Asteria holds its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in a fully virtual format intended to eliminate the need to travel to a single physical location to attend the meeting. |
*Under the revised Companies Act in 2019, shareholders can request a stock transfer agency to mail paper documents. The deadline for making such a request is March 31, the record date of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
Schedule
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Thursday, June 8 | The dispatch of a written notice for Asteria’s 25th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders enclosed with a brochure on the exercise of voting rights using blockchain |
| By Friday, June 23 | Early voting period (Opens 24 hours. The last day opens until 5:30 p.m.) |
| Saturday, June 24 | Voting rights can be exercised and questions can be asked using the blockchain-based system from 10.30 a.m. on the day of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. The results will be announced during the event. |
(Asteria’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be live-streamed in which voting results will be announced. The live stream will be archived as an on-demand asset. For more information about how to watch the live streaming, visit Asterias Shareholders Meeting information site: https://en.asteria.com/ir/stock/meeting/)
[About Blockchain-Based Voting]
The 25th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will have three main issues to be resolved and ask shareholders to express their approval or disapproval of 10 proposals. Asteria therefore issued 10 types of blockchain-based tokens that act as voting rights for shareholders. Shareholders can either choose to vote using the blockchain system or mail a paper voting form.
Future Initiatives
In 2017, Asteria held its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders using blockchain-based voting system for the first time and made sure that the system could achieve the high level of fairness in the voting results. Asteria held an effectively virtual-only Annual Shareholders Meeting in June 2021 with no stockholder attendance at a physical venue and changed the Articles of Incorporation. The company adopted a fully virtual format for the last year’s meeting. It will, in principle, maintain its policy of holding fully virtual shareholders’ meetings.
Asteria has also offset CO2 emissions from operating the meetings since 2021. The company is committed to further increasing shareholder values while ensuring that its management is open to them by incorporating advanced technologies and ideas into its Annual General Meetings of Shareholders.
*1: Under the revised Industrial Competitiveness Enhancement Act that took effect in June 2021, companies in Japan can hold a meeting of shareholders without the need to set a physical venue.
*2: The revised Companies Act was passed in December 2019 and introduced in September 2022. Companies which hold shareholders meetings from September 2022 onward are required to provide the shareholder meetings materials in a digital format.
About Asteria Corporation
Asteria, formerly Inforteria Corporation, develops and sells software and services which connect a variety of in-house computers and devices. Its key product, ASTERIA Warp, is middleware which integrates data in different computer systems without coding. As of end-March 2023, 9,931 companies, mainly large and medium ones, had introduced the product. Another product, Handbook, allows users to carry around materials used for sales activities and meetings as well as product catalogues in electronic files on smartphones and tablets. A total of 1,680 companies and public institutions had adopted the product through end-March 2023.
For more information, visit https://en.asteria.com/
For the press enquiries, please contact Masumi Koizumi of Asteria’s PR and IR department.
TEL: +81-3-5718-1297 / E-mail: press@asteria.com
Asteria and Handbook are registered trademarks of Asteria Corporation.
The names of products are registered trademarks or trademarks of individual companies.