In another move to secure the loyalty of individual shareholders, nearly 400 Japanese companies have allowed or will allow individual investors to vote via mobile phones or personal computers for this year's general shareholders' meetings, which will peak Wednesday.
Five major trust banks that handle stock-related work for corporate clients said 117 companies are allowing voting by cell phone this year, compared with 16 last year, to make the process more convenient, especially for investors who own shares in more than one company.
Companies have been inconveniencing shareholders for years by holding their meetings en masse on the same day to thwart "sokaiya," the corporate extortionists who threaten to disrupt the meetings. Voting on the company proposals can also be conducted by mail.
To vote by mobile phone, stakeholders will use identification numbers and passwords contained on their invitations to the meetings. Ballots will be cast through special trust bank-sponsored Web sites.
The number of companies allowing computer-based voting rose to 271 this year, compared with 219 last year.