Shareholders can participate in the ensuing general meeting for the election of directors through VC/OAVM

State Bank of India (SBI) is set to host a virtual general meeting for its shareholders on June 17 in view of social-distancing norms amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The agenda of the meeting is to elect four directors to the bank’s board from a list of five candidates, the bank informed the stock exchanges. SBI is also keeping the option of a physical meeting open and this will be subject to clearance from the concerned authorities.

“ln view of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing norm to be followed and the continuing restriction on movement of persons at several places in the country, the Board of Directors of the bank has decided to adopt the guidelines issued by ministry of corporate affairs and Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) in respect of conducting general meeting of the bank through VC/OAVM (video-conferencing/other audi-visual means) and providing e-voting facility to the shareholders in addition to the existing provisions of the SBI Act and SBI General Regulations, 1955,” SBI said in the communication to the exchanges.

The five candidates for the directorships are Ganesh Natarajan, Ketan S Vikamsey, B Venugopal, Mrugank M Paranjape and Vinod Kumar.  Shareholders can participate in the ensuing general meeting for the election of directors through VC/OAVM, which may not require physical presence of members at a common venue. The “deemed venue” for the meeting shall be State Bank Auditorium, Corporate Centre of the bank. “lf the conditions are conducive and the local authorities permit for conducting the general meeting, then physical meeting may take place,” the notice added. Companies like Tata Consultancy Services in India and Bombardier in Canada have announced plans to hold virtual meetings of their shareholders.