Clearer guidelines needed to help investors requisition EGMs

RECENT boardroom tussles, including at companies such as Asti Holdings and USP Group , are turning the spotlight again on the requisitioning of extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) by dissident shareholders.

Such scuffles, which usually result in a public battle between the requisitioning parties and the incumbent directors, are not uncommon. And they sometimes get escalated to the courts.

In past cases involving Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed companies, parties have been known to disagree on nearly everything. In more than one instance, this has led to a stalemate – with the wider body of shareholders unable to even cast their votes and decide on the matters at hand.