Time to get rid of that rediculous thread header, "vote yes"....

Time to get rid of that rediculous thread header, "vote yes". The majority of posts on that thread say they disagree with it so lets have a new thread that doesn't try to tell you how to vote, but rather just encourages you to do so one way or another.

In recent days I have read quite a number of posts that tell posters that there is no point voting because it won't change the outcome. Some comments and quotes have even been provided to substanciate this assertion. I strongly believe that some of the statements made and other inferrences are factually incorrect and misleading. Moreover I will demonstrate this.

I do not say this to insult anybody and believe these are probably genuine errors or misunderstandings. I see that some of these comments and assertions are starting to be repeated and it is therefore important to set the record straight and try to get some of these clarified.

There have been a number of posts that have quoted the part of the last announcement which says "The Chairman intends to vote all undirected proxies in favour of this resolution. To authorise the Chairman to vote as your proxy in accordance with that intention, please follow the instructions on the proxy form carefully and mark the appropriate box."

This seems to be where most of the misunderstanding comes from. At the risk of this being a long post I'm going to discuss the very nature of what a proxy is and why this comment doesn't mean what some have said it does. Explaining can't be done in a single sentance, sorry.

Firstly a proxy is a nomination to have somebody else vote on your behalf. As most can't attend the meeting themselves they usually nominate a proxy to vote for them. That doesn't mean that the nominated proxy can do anything that they want, its just a silly old rule that says you can vote if you are not at the meeting or don't have a proxy there to vote on your behalf. If you tick the boxes stating how you want to vote on each resolution then your proxy (usually the chairman) must vote that way on your behalf. Pretty simple right.

So the above quote from the company announcement saying "The Chairman intends to vote all undirected proxies in favour of this resolution" sounds to some like the chairman, as the nominated proxy of many, can do whatever he wants. Not the case at all. The critical word in that sentance is "undirected", ie the chairman will vote "for" if you nominate him as your proxy but do not tell him how to vote on your behalf.

More importantly the chairman doesn't automatically become your proxy just becuase you don't fill in the proxy form as some have inferred. In fact quite the opposite. He can only become your proxy if you complete the proxy form and nominate him, thus the name of the form is "proxy form", rather than "voting form".

Those that have been posting saying that the chairman will have as must as 61.5% of the votes because the ADR holders probably won't vote or won't get the documentation on time seem to have a different understanding of what a proxy is and how the chairman gets "undirected" proxies. The chairman will only have voting discretion specifically whereby a shareholder nominates him as their proxy and fails to direct him as to their voting intentions. Completely different to what has been said, inferred and discussed.

I am not picking on anybody and specifically discussing the issue (rather than the posters) and therefore don't even feel it necessary to mention posters names here. Given what I have discussed above it seems to me that statements like the following may be based on incorrect assumptions. These staments are been repeated on multiple occassions thus serve as a good example:

"I still maintain voting for or against this will be pointless. The chairman has already decided to vote yes via undirected proxies. Ie potentially up to 61.5% of ADRs. This thing hasn't even raised an eyebrow in the USA. Chances they won't even receive the paperwork to vote."

Is it only me that sees the flaw in this argument?

I just urge people to vote based on their personal feelings. Not voting and hoping it will go away achieves nothing. Voting costs nothing so exercise your rights either way IMHO.