Air Liquide wins Shareholder Democracy Grand Prize for its 2021 General Meeting
Published on July 12, 2021
2 minutes
The Institute of Responsible Capitalism* just announced Air Liquide as the winner of its Grand Prize for shareholder democracy as part of its General Meeting and Gender Balance Awards. This award once again highlights the strong relationship between the Group and its shareholders.
The General Meeting and Gender Balance Awards were launched in 2014 with the aim of showcasing companies with outstanding practices in the areas of General Meetings, governance, CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and gender balance.
Winners are chosen following an analysis by the Institute of Responsible Capitalism of all CAC 40 company and 20 SBF 80 company General Meetings, with the exception of those not held in France or after the date of the Jury's deliberations. As part of this analysis, the institute looked at various criteria, ranging from how General Meetings were organized and adapted to be held behind closed doors, to the set-up enabling remote shareholder participation, through to the educational nature of meetings' preparatory documents.
In particular the Jury commended the fact that shareholders were surveyed before the meeting in order to identify the most popular topics so they could be addressed during the meeting. The Jury also praised the dual system for shareholders to ask questions — by video in particular — both before and during the General Meeting. The efforts made to maintain a close relationship with shareholders throughout the year despite the health crisis were also highlighted, thanks to an increased presence through digital tools.
Benoît Potier said: "Acting in everyone's interest of course means growing steadily while remaining in close contact and progressing together. We are proud that, during the health crisis, we have been able to rethink our close relationship with our shareholders. On a day-to-day level — thanks to our Shareholder Services advisors' hard work, the revamp of our online Shareholders' account, and our increased digital communication. But also during our General Meeting, where we made it possible to have a live exchange with our shareholders. Now more than ever, shareholder dialog is central to the Air Liquide strategy."
The award was handed to Fabienne Lecorvaisier, Air Liquide Executive Vice-President, on July 8.
