HDR holders are not registered shareholders and so has no legal rights to attend shareholders’ meetings in the capacity of shareholders. However, they have the contractual rights set out in the deposit agreement, including the right to vote on resolutions, receive dividends and participate in corporate actions; these rights are generally exercised on their behalf by the depositary. HDR holders should read the deposit agreement carefully to understand those rights.
The depositary, on behalf of the issuer, will pass the notice of meeting information from the issuer on resolutions and voting procedures through to the HDR holders, and will in turn pass the HDR holders’ voting instructions back to the issuer.
If HDR holders entrust their HDRs with brokers who are CCASS Participants, they may exercise their vote by giving instructions to Hong Kong Securities and Clearing Company Limited (HKSCC) through his brokers. If HDR holders have opened Investor Accounts in the Central Clearing and Settlement System (CCASS) and have deposited the HDRs into the CCASS Depository, they may vote by giving instructions directly to HKSCC. HKSCC will then pass the voting instructions to the depositary accordingly.
Shareholders’ meeting announcements and other corporate communication of the HDR issuers can be found on the HKEXnews website.