Given that face-to-face annual meetings are the only time of the year when shareholders can meet and discuss corporate challenges with members of the Board of
Directors and senior management, it is of the highest importance that this process be preserved and encouraged, considering the undeniable benefits it brings.
The CSA recently revised its guidelines to encourage issuers to hold their annual meetings both virtually and in person1
, while the Canadian Coalition for Good
Governance2 advises against holding such meetings solely virtually, as this may have the effect of limiting the expression of shareholders’ voice, and that one of the
new criteria that will be used by the Globe & Mail's Board Games to evaluate the good governance of organizations will be to favor hybrid meetings, with no points
awarded to companies that hold their meetings solely in person or solely virtually.
As much as we encourage greater face-to-face presence of employees to stimulate exchanges and team spirit, we should also recognize the importance of keeping
annual meetings face-to-face, while allowing for the possibility of holding them in virtual mode as well.
accountants.
The goal of rotating auditors is to reduce the risks to their independence, which are largely due to the familiarity that may develop over time. There is a risk that, in the
long term, the auditor may become too close to the client. For example, the auditor's independence may be reduced when friendships are forged: the auditor becomes
too closely associated with the interests of the client's management, the audit plan becomes repetitive, or the auditor is hesitant to make decisions that would suggest
that his or her previous decisions were flawed.
In summary, the risks of familiarity with the client are likely to undermine the auditor's rigor, objectivity and critical thinking. Does the percentage of abstentions on the appointment of the current auditor reflect this opinion?
We consider that such a service should be subject to a more frequent renewal of vision, in order to assure shareholders that their auditors are offering them the best service at a competitive price, by ensuring a new approach to auditing, by a different firm.