Personally speaking, I find this situation curious. One observes democratic principles applied selectively. AGM resolutions are voted on the basis of majority democracy, but not in terms of actual capital structure. The core principle should be, voting rights in proportion to shareholder capital. But in many parts of the world, you have voting shares and non-voting shares. In other words, you are providing capital but if you have non-voting shares, you do not have a say in how the company is running. Think about many European (Scandanavian, Swiss, etc.) who adopt this form of Corporate Governance. Some deep background reading here, here and here.
So the EU does not think it is worthwhile to have a EU wide rule. I applaud this, knowing when a law is not required is very important; Lord only knows that we have enough. Also, a company is not a political animal, it doesn't behave democratically!! On the other hand, if the shareholder composition does not matter to the efficiency of capital deployed or profitability, then I suppose corporate governance ideas need to be re thought out!
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
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