DTI launches online AGM initiative

The UK government's plans to drag the ancient paper-based reporting system for companies into the electronic age have been welcomed by the business community.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) minister Ian McCartney told a conference in London he was considering overhauling the legal requirements for company reporting as part of the electronic commerce bill announced during the Queen's Speech.

Currently companies have to hand in company information on hard-back bound ledgers to Companies House, and shareholders have to attend annual general meetings (AGMs) in person. The minister said UK business could save millions of pounds by making these processes electronic.

Mark Watson, a spokesman for the Institute of Directors, welcomed the move: "The current system was designed in the Victorian era and is very restrictive. It's illegal to email any company information to shareholders at the moment. The sooner the system is modernised, the better." He pointed out that around 16 per cent of investors in the London Stock Exchange live abroad and cannot attend AGMs.

Although most shareholder information is public, some information - such as votes taken during an AGM - would need security features. The Society for Investor Relations experimented with a test AGM over a video-conferencing network last summer. A spokeswoman from the Society described it as a "success", saying shareholders had held question and answers sessions, and taken votes over the Internet.