Who’s entitled to take part in shareholders’ meetings
Shareholders’ meetings are open to all shareholders, regardless of how many shares they own. These meetings give shareholders the chance to express their views and opinions, by putting questions to the Board of Directors and by voting on the proposed resolutions. To ensure your right to attend or be represented at shareholders’ meetings or to place a postal vote, you must first apply for your admission ticket from:
- Société Générale (registered shares),
- your financial intermediary (bearer shares).
Whichever kind of shares you hold, your attendance at shareholders’ meetings is subject to the reception of your notice of participation (sent to Société Générale or your financial intermediary). This certificate serves to confirm that a book entry exists for your shares on a date no later than 3 business days before the date of the meeting.
Different types of shareholders’ meetings
Shareholders’ meetings can be annual, extraordinary or combined.
- Annual (AGM): held once a year, within a maximum of six months subsequent to the end of the preceding financial year. The purpose of the AGM is to inform shareholders of the health of the company. Shareholders are asked to approve the accounts for the year ending, decide on how to apply results, and set dividends and conditions of payment. The AGM also renews the tenure of the members of the Board of Directors and the Statutory Auditors or appoints new ones, and authorizes all operations concerning the ongoing management of the company.
- Extraordinary (EGM): an EGM may be called at any time to solicit the shareholders’ approval of changes to the statutes or to the company’s equity (increase, reduction, mergers etc.).
- Combined (CGM): a combination of the above two meetings, held on the same date and announced in the same way.
How can I stay informed of upcoming shareholders’ meetings?
- 35 days prior to the scheduled date, Veolia Environnement will publish a preliminary notice of meeting in the French Bulletin of mandatory legal announcements (BALO) to alert shareholders that a meeting has been scheduled.
- Among other information, this announcement contains the provisional agenda for the Meeting and the resolutions for approval by the shareholders. At this point the agenda and the text of the resolutions are not yet definitive.
- 15 days prior to the scheduled date, the notice of meeting is published in the BALO. This document is sent by mail to allregistered shareholders. It stipulates the date, time and place of the meeting, together with terms and conditions of attendance, plus the agenda.
You can also find out about shareholders’ meetings by other means:
- The financial announcements published by Veolia Environnement in the business and financial press, giving advance notice of the date and time of shareholders’ meetings, together with all the information you need in order to apply to attend;
- Veolia Environnement’s Shareholder Relations Dept. Free phone: 0805 800 000, no charge when calling from a landline in France:
- The Veolia website: www.veolia-finance.com
- The AMF website: www.amf-france.org
How do I take part in a shareholders’ meeting?
- If you hold registered shares: you’ll receive notification of upcoming meetings no later than 15 days prior to the date set for the meeting. This notification will be accompanied by the documents required by law and by applicable regulations: an application form for shareholders’ meeting admission ticket, a proxy voting form and a postal voting form, and an application form for documents, information, resolutions, and financial results for the previous five years.
- If you hold bearer shares: it’s up to you to inform your financial intermediary of your wish to attend the meeting. S/he will obtain the necessary documents and provide you with a certificate attesting to your participation at the meeting. This certificate should be sent to Société Générale (Nantes) together with your admission ticket application form, which you’ll receive by return post.
Typically, 10 days before the shareholders’ meeting the following documents are available for consultation by shareholders at the company’s registered office (upon request at the main reception): Annual Report, the French Reference Document, Report of the Board of Directors, Reports of the Statutory Auditors (general and special).
To ensure notification reaches as many people as possible, Veolia Environnement will post a notification and the French Reference Document on its website at least 10 days before the shareholders’ meeting.