Following the launch of the new service, the Dutch and foreign institutional investors can receive meeting notifications for equities listed on NYSE Euronext-Amsterdam and NYSE Alternext.
Information from issuers and their agents will be gathered by the Euroclear Nederland, and partnering with Broadridge, the upcoming annual and extraordinary shareholder meeting notifications will be distributed to Dutch and international investors in electronic form.
Aligned with the European Market Standards for General Meetings (MSGM), the new notification service will enhance the flow of information between end investors and issuers by ensuring cost-efficient communication between all parties involved in shareholder meetings.
Euroclear Nederland chief administrative officer Hugo Spanjer said, "The launch of the joint Euroclear Nederland/Broadridge service in the Netherlands is key in maintaining the momentum we have built to further improve shareholder influence in the companies they own."
The MSGM and the EU Shareholder Rights Directive are both aimed at increasing transparency and improving the level of automation associated with the proxy voting process.
Broadridge business development global proxy head Bruce Babcock commented that the service provides enhanced communications between issuers and end investors envisioned in the MSGM, importantly not only within the Netherlands but also for cross-border communications for issuers and investors in all the ESES markets – and beyond.
Earlier this year, Euroclear France introduced automated meeting notification service and now Euroclear Nederland becomes the second of the three ESES CSDs to automate the services. Euroclear Belgium is expected to launch its notification service in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The Euroclear Settlement of Euronext-zone Securities (ESES) central securities depositories consist of Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Belgium and Euroclear France.
