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Article 3
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(Convening shareholders meetings and shareholders meeting notices)
Unless otherwise provided by law or regulation, this Corporation's shareholders meetings shall be convened by the board of directors.
Changes to how this Corporation convenes its shareholders meeting shall be resolved by the board of directors, and shall be made no later than mailing of the shareholders meeting notice.
This Corporation shall prepare electronic versions of the shareholders meeting notice and proxy forms, and the origins of and explanatory materials relating to all proposals, including proposals for ratification, matters for deliberation, or the election or dismissal of directors or supervisors, and upload them to the Market Observation Post System (MOPS) before 30 days before the date of a regular shareholders meeting or before 15 days before the date of a special shareholders meeting. This Corporation shall prepare electronic versions of the shareholders meeting agenda and supplemental meeting materials and upload them to the MOPS before 21 days before the date of the regular shareholders meeting or before 15 days before the date of the special shareholders meeting. If, however, this Corporation has the paid-in capital of NT$10 billion or more as of the last day of the most current fiscal year, or total shareholding of foreign shareholders and PRC shareholders reaches 30% or more as recorded in the register of shareholders of the shareholders meeting held in the immediately preceding year, transmission of these electronic files shall be made by 30 days before the regular shareholders meeting. In addition, before 15 days before the date of the shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall also have prepared the shareholders meeting agenda and supplemental meeting materials and made them available for review by shareholders at any time. The meeting agenda and supplemental materials shall also be displayed at this Corporation and the professional shareholder services agent designated thereby.
This Corporate shall make the meeting agenda and supplemental meeting materials in the preceding paragraph available to shareholders for review in the following manner on the date of the shareholders meeting:
- For physical shareholders meetings, to be distributed on-site at the meeting.
- For hybrid shareholders meetings, to be distributed on-site at the meeting and shared on the virtual meeting platform.
- For virtual-only shareholders meetings, electronic files shall be shared on the virtual meeting platform.
The reasons for convening a shareholders meeting shall be specified in the meeting notice and public announcement. With the consent of the addressee, the meeting notice may be given in electronic form.
Election or dismissal of directors or supervisors, amendments to the articles of incorporation, reduction of capital, application for the approval of ceasing its status as a public company, approval of competing with the company by directors, surplus profit distributed in the form of new shares, reserve distributed in the form of new shares, the dissolution, merger, or demerger of the corporation, or any matter under Article 185, paragraph 1 of the Company Act, Articles 26-1 and 43-6 of the Securities Exchange Act, Articles 56-1 and 60-2 of the Regulations Governing the Offering and Issuance of Securities by Securities Issuers shall be set out and the essential contents explained in the notice of the reasons for convening the shareholders meeting. None of the above matters may be raised by an extraordinary motion.
Where re-election of all directors and supervisors as well as their inauguration date is stated in the notice of the reasons for convening the shareholders meeting, after the completion of the re-election in said meeting such inauguration date may not be altered by any extraordinary motion or otherwise in the same meeting.
A shareholder holding one percent or more of the total number of issued shares may submit to this Corporation a proposal for discussion at a regular shareholders meeting. The number of items so proposed is limited to one only, and no proposal containing more than one item will be included in the meeting agenda. When the circumstances of any subparagraph of Article 172-1, paragraph 4 of the Company Act apply to a proposal put forward by a shareholder, the board of directors may exclude it from the agenda. A shareholder may propose a recommendation for urging the corporation to promote public interests or fulfill its social responsibilities, provided procedurally the number of items so proposed is limited only to one in accordance with Article 172-1 of the Company Act, and no proposal containing more than one item will be included in the meeting agenda.
Prior to the book closure date before a regular shareholders meeting is held, this Corporation shall publicly announce its acceptance of shareholder proposals in writing or electronically, and the location and time period for their submission; the period for submission of shareholder proposals may not be less than 10 days.
Shareholder-submitted proposals are limited to 300 words, and no proposal containing more than 300 words will be included in the meeting agenda. The shareholder making the proposal shall be present in person or by proxy at the regular shareholders meeting and take part in discussion of the proposal.
Prior to the date for issuance of notice of a shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall inform the shareholders who submitted proposals of the proposal screening results, and shall list in the meeting notice the proposals that conform to the provisions of this article. At the shareholders meeting the board of directors shall explain the reasons for exclusion of any shareholder proposals not included in the agenda.
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Article 4
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For each shareholders meeting, a shareholder may appoint a proxy to attend the meeting by providing the proxy form issued by this Corporation and stating the scope of the proxy's authorization.
A shareholder may issue only one proxy form and appoint only one proxy for any given shareholders meeting, and shall deliver the proxy form to this Corporation before five days before the date of the shareholders meeting. When duplicate proxy forms are delivered, the one received earliest shall prevail unless a declaration is made to cancel the previous proxy appointment.
After a proxy form has been delivered to this Corporation, if the shareholder intends to attend the meeting in person or to exercise voting rights by correspondence or electronically, a written notice of proxy cancellation shall be submitted to this Corporation before two business days before the meeting date. If the cancellation notice is submitted after that time, votes cast at the meeting by the proxy shall prevail.
If, after a proxy form is delivered to this Corporation, a shareholder wishes to attend the shareholders meeting online, a written notice of proxy cancellation shall be submitted to this Corporation two business days before the meeting date. If the cancellation notice is submitted after that time, votes cast at the meeting by the proxy shall prevail.
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Article 5
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(Principles determining the time and place of a shareholders meeting)
The venue for a shareholders meeting shall be the premises of this Corporation, or a place easily accessible to shareholders and suitable for a shareholders meeting. The meeting may begin no earlier than 9 a.m. and no later than 3 p.m. Full consideration shall be given to the opinions of the independent directors with respect to the place and time of the meeting.
The restrictions on the place of the meeting shall not apply when this Corporation convenes a virtual-only shareholders meeting.
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Article 6
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(Preparation of documents such as the attendance book)
This Corporation shall specify in its shareholders meeting notices the time during which attendance registrations for shareholders, solicitors and proxies (collectively “shareholders”) will be accepted, the place to register for attendance, and other matters for attention.
The time during which shareholder attendance registrations will be accepted, as stated in the preceding paragraph, shall be at least 30 minutes prior to the time the meeting commences. The place at which attendance registrations are accepted shall be clearly marked and a sufficient number of suitable personnel assigned to handle the registrations. For virtual shareholders meetings, shareholders may begin to register on the virtual meeting platform 30 minutes before the meeting starts. Shareholders completing registration will be deemed as attend the shareholders meeting in person.
Shareholders shall attend shareholders meetings based on attendance cards, sign-in cards, or other certificates of attendance. This Corporation may not arbitrarily add requirements for other documents beyond those showing eligibility to attend presented by shareholders. Solicitors soliciting proxy forms shall also bring identification documents for verification.
This Corporation shall furnish the attending shareholders with an attendance book to sign, or attending shareholders may hand in a sign-in card in lieu of signing in.
This Corporation shall furnish attending shareholders with the meeting agenda book, annual report, attendance card, speaker's slips, voting slips, and other meeting materials. Where there is an election of directors or supervisors, pre-printed ballots shall also be furnished.
When the government or a juristic person is a shareholder, it may be represented by more than one representative at a shareholders meeting. When a juristic person is appointed to attend as proxy, it may designate only one person to represent it in the meeting.
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, shareholders wishing to attend the meeting online shall register with this Corporation two days before the meeting date.
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall upload the meeting agenda book, annual report and other meeting materials to the virtual meeting platform at least 30 minutes before the meeting starts, and keep this information disclosed until the end of the meeting.
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Article 6-1
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(Convening virtual shareholders meetings and particulars to be included in shareholders meeting notice)
To convene a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall include the follow particulars in the shareholders meeting notice:
- How shareholders attend the virtual meeting and exercise their rights.
- Actions to be taken if the virtual meeting platform or participation in the virtual meeting is obstructed due to natural disasters, accidents or other force majeure events, at least covering the following particulars:
- To what time the meeting is postponed or from what time the meeting will resume if the above obstruction continues and cannot be removed, and the date to which the meeting is postponed or on which the meeting will resume.
- Shareholders not having registered to attend the affected virtual shareholders meeting shall not attend the postponed or resumed session.
- In case of a hybrid shareholders meeting, when the virtual meeting cannot be continued, if the total number of shares represented at the meeting, after deducting those represented by shareholders attending the virtual shareholders meeting online, meets the minimum legal requirement for a shareholder meeting, then the shareholders meeting shall continue. The shares represented by shareholders attending the virtual meeting online shall be counted towards the total number of shares represented by shareholders present at the meeting, and the shareholders attending the virtual meeting online shall be deemed abstaining from voting on all proposals on meeting agenda of that shareholders meeting.
- Actions to be taken if the outcome of all proposals have been announced and extraordinary motion has not been carried out.
- To convene a virtual-only shareholders meeting, appropriate alternative measures available to shareholders with difficulties in attending a virtual shareholders meeting online shall be specified.
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Article 8
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(Documentation of a shareholders meeting by audio or video)
This Corporation, beginning from the time it accepts shareholder attendance registrations, shall make an uninterrupted audio and video recording of the registration procedure, the proceedings of the shareholders meeting, and the voting and vote counting procedures.
The recorded materials of the preceding paragraph shall be retained for at least one year. If, however, a shareholder files a lawsuit pursuant to Article 189 of the Company Act, the recording shall be retained until the conclusion of the litigation.
Where a shareholders meeting is held online, this Corporation shall keep records of shareholder registration, sign-in, check-in, questions raised, votes cast and results of votes counted by this Corporation, and continuously audio and video record, without interruption, the proceedings of the virtual meeting from beginning to end.
The information and audio and video recording in the preceding paragraph shall be properly kept by this Corporation during the entirety of its existence, and copies of the audio and video recording shall be provided to and kept by the party appointed to handle matters of the virtual meeting.
In case of a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation is advised to audio and video record the back-end operation interface of the virtual meeting platform.
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Article 9
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Attendance at shareholders meetings shall be calculated based on numbers of shares. The number of shares in attendance shall be calculated according to the shares indicated by the attendance book and sign-in cards handed in, and the shares checked in on the virtual meeting platform, plus the number of shares whose voting rights are exercised by correspondence or electronically.
The chair shall call the meeting to order at the appointed meeting time and disclose information concerning the number of nonvoting shares and number of shares represented by shareholders attending the meeting.
However, when the attending shareholders do not represent a majority of the total number of issued shares, the chair may announce a postponement, provided that no more than two such postponements, for a combined total of no more than one hour, may be made. If the quorum is not met after two postponements and the attending shareholders still represent less than one third of the total number of issued shares, the chair shall declare the meeting adjourned. In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall also declare the meeting adjourned at the virtual meeting platform.
If the quorum is not met after two postponements as referred to in the preceding paragraph, but the attending shareholders represent one third or more of the total number of issued shares, a tentative resolution may be adopted pursuant to Article 175, paragraph 1 of the Company Act; all shareholders shall be notified of the tentative resolution and another shareholders meeting shall be convened within one month. In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, shareholders intending to attend the meeting online shall re-register to this Corporation in accordance with Article 6.
When, prior to conclusion of the meeting, the attending shareholders represent a majority of the total number of issued shares, the chair may resubmit the tentative resolution for a vote by the shareholders meeting pursuant to Article 174 of the Company Act.
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Article 11
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(Shareholder speech)
Before speaking, an attending shareholder must specify on a speaker's slip the subject of the speech, his/her shareholder account number (or attendance card number), and account name. The order in which shareholders speak will be set by the chair.
A shareholder in attendance who has submitted a speaker's slip but does not actually speak shall be deemed to have not spoken. When the content of the speech does not correspond to the subject given on the speaker's slip, the spoken content shall prevail.
Except with the consent of the chair, a shareholder may not speak more than twice on the same proposal, and a single speech may not exceed 5 minutes. If the shareholder's speech violates the rules or exceeds the scope of the agenda item, the chair may terminate the speech.
When an attending shareholder is speaking, other shareholders may not speak or interrupt unless they have sought and obtained the consent of the chair and the shareholder that has the floor; the chair shall stop any violation.
When a juristic person shareholder appoints two or more representatives to attend a shareholders meeting, only one of the representatives so appointed may speak on the same proposal.
After an attending shareholder has spoken, the chair may respond in person or direct relevant personnel to respond.
Where a virtual shareholders meeting is convened, shareholders attending the virtual meeting online may raise questions in writing at the virtual meeting platform from the chair declaring the meeting open until the chair declaring the meeting adjourned. No more than two questions for the same proposal may be raised. Each question shall contain no more than 200 words. The regulations in paragraphs 1 to 5 do not apply.
As long as questions so raised in accordance with the preceding paragraph are not in violation of the regulations or beyond the scope of a proposal, it is advisable the questions be disclosed to the public at the virtual meeting platform.
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Article 13
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A shareholder shall be entitled to one vote for each share held, except when the shares are restricted shares or are deemed non-voting shares under Article 179, paragraph 2 of the Company Act.
When this Corporation holds a shareholder meeting, it shall adopt exercise of voting rights by electronic means and may adopt exercise of voting rights by correspondence. When voting rights are exercised by correspondence or electronic means, the method of exercise shall be specified in the shareholders meeting notice. A shareholder exercising voting rights by correspondence or electronic means will be deemed to have attended the meeting in person, but to have waived his/her rights with respect to the extraordinary motions and amendments to original proposals of that meeting; it is therefore advisable that this Corporation avoid the submission of extraordinary motions and amendments to original proposals.
A shareholder intending to exercise voting rights by correspondence or electronic means under the preceding paragraph shall deliver a written declaration of intent to this Corporation before two days before the date of the shareholders meeting. When duplicate declarations of intent are delivered, the one received earliest shall prevail, except when a declaration is made to cancel the earlier declaration of intent.
After a shareholder has exercised voting rights by correspondence or electronic means, in the event the shareholder intends to attend the shareholders meeting in person or online, a written declaration of intent to retract the voting rights already exercised under the preceding paragraph shall be made known to this Corporation, by the same means by which the voting rights were exercised, before two business days before the date of the shareholders meeting. If the notice of retraction is submitted after that time, the voting rights already exercised by correspondence or electronic means shall prevail. When a shareholder has exercised voting rights both by correspondence or electronic means and by appointing a proxy to attend a shareholders meeting, the voting rights exercised by the proxy in the meeting shall prevail.
Except as otherwise provided in the Company Act and in this Corporation's articles of incorporation, the passage of a proposal shall require an affirmative vote of a majority of the voting rights represented by the attending shareholders. At the time of a vote, for each proposal, the chair or a person designated by the chair shall first announce the total number of voting rights represented by the attending shareholders, followed by a poll of the shareholders. After the conclusion of the meeting, on the same day it is held, the results for each proposal, based on the numbers of votes for and against and the number of abstentions, shall be entered into the MOPS.
When there is an amendment or an alternative to a proposal, the chair shall present the amended or alternative proposal together with the original proposal and decide the order in which they will be put to a vote. When any one among them is passed, the other proposals will then be deemed rejected, and no further voting shall be required.
Vote monitoring and counting personnel for the voting on a proposal shall be appointed by the chair, provided that all monitoring personnel shall be shareholders of this Corporation.
Vote counting for shareholders meeting proposals or elections shall be conducted in public at the place of the shareholders meeting. Immediately after vote counting has been completed, the results of the voting, including the statistical tallies of the numbers of votes, shall be announced on-site at the meeting, and a record made of the vote.
When this Corporation convenes a virtual shareholders meeting, after the chair declares the meeting open, shareholders attending the meeting online shall cast votes on proposals and elections on the virtual meeting platform before the chair announces the voting session ends or will be deemed abstained from voting.
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, votes shall be counted at once after the chair announces the voting session ends, and results of votes and elections shall be announced immediately.
When this Corporation convenes a hybrid shareholders meeting, if shareholders who have registered to attend the meeting online in accordance with Article 6 decide to attend the physical shareholders meeting in person, they shall revoke their registration two days before the shareholders meeting in the same manner as they registered. If their registration is not revoked within the time limit, they may only attend the shareholders meeting online.
When shareholders exercise voting rights by correspondence or electronic means, unless they have withdrawn the declaration of intent and attended the shareholders meeting online, except for extraordinary motions, they will not exercise voting rights on the original proposals or make any amendments to the original proposals or exercise voting rights on amendments to the original proposal.
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Article 15
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Matters relating to the resolutions of a shareholders meeting shall be recorded in the meeting minutes. The meeting minutes shall be signed or sealed by the chair of the meeting and a copy distributed to each shareholder within 20 days after the conclusion of the meeting. The meeting minutes may be produced and distributed in electronic form.
This Corporation may distribute the meeting minutes of the preceding paragraph by means of a public announcement made through the MOPS.
The meeting minutes shall accurately record the year, month, day, and place of the meeting, the chair's full name, the methods by which resolutions were adopted, and a summary of the deliberations and their voting results (including the number of voting rights), and disclose the number of voting rights won by each candidate in the event of an election of directors or supervisors. The minutes shall be retained for the duration of the existence of this Corporation.
Where a virtual shareholders meeting is convened, in addition to the particulars to be included in the meeting minutes as described in the preceding paragraph, the start time and end time of the shareholders meeting, how the meeting is convened, the chair’s and secretary’s name, and actions to be taken in the event of disruption to the virtual meeting platform or participation in the meeting online due to natural disasters, accidents or other force majeure events, and how issues are dealt with shall also be included in the minutes.
When convening a virtual-only shareholder meeting, other than compliance with the requirements in the preceding paragraph, this Corporation shall specify in the meeting minutes alternative measures available to shareholders with difficulties in attending a virtual-only shareholders meeting online
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Article 16
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(Public disclosure)
On the day of a shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall compile in the prescribed format a statistical statement of the number of shares obtained by solicitors through solicitation, the number of shares represented by proxies and the number of shares represented by shareholders attending the meeting by correspondence or electronic means, and shall make an express disclosure of the same at the place of the shareholders meeting. In the event a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall upload the above meeting materials to the virtual meeting platform at least 30 minutes before the meeting starts, and keep this information disclosed until the end of the meeting.
During this Corporation’s virtual shareholders meeting, when the meeting is called to order, the total number of shares represented at the meeting shall be disclosed on the virtual meeting platform. The same shall apply whenever the total number of shares represented at the meeting and a new tally of votes is released during the meeting.
If matters put to a resolution at a shareholders meeting constitute material information under applicable laws or regulations or under Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (or Taipei Exchange Market) regulations, this Corporation shall upload the content of such resolution to the MOPS within the prescribed time period.
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Article 19
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(Disclosure of information at virtual meetings)
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall disclose real-time results of votes and election immediately after the end of the voting session on the virtual meeting platform according to the regulations, and this disclosure shall continue at least 15 minutes after the chair has announced the meeting adjourned.
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Article 20
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(Location of the chair and secretary of virtual-only shareholders meeting)
When this Corporation convenes a virtual-only shareholders meeting, both the chair and secretary shall be in the same location, and the chair shall declare the address of their location when the meeting is called to order.
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Article 21
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(Handling of disconnection)
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, this Corporation may offer a simple connection test to shareholders prior to the meeting, and provide relevant real-time services before and during the meeting to help resolve communication technical issues.
In the event of a virtual shareholders meeting, when declaring the meeting open, the chair shall also declare, unless under a circumstance where a meeting is not required to be postponed to or resumed at another time under Article 44-20, paragraph 4 of the Regulations Governing the Administration of Shareholder Services of Public Companies, if the virtual meeting platform or participation in the virtual meeting is obstructed due to natural disasters, accidents or other force majeure events before the chair has announced the meeting adjourned, and the obstruction continues for more than 30 minutes, the meeting shall be postponed to or resumed on another date within five days, in which case Article 182 of the Company Act shall not apply.
For a meeting to be postponed or resumed as described in the preceding paragraph, shareholders who have not registered to participate in the affected shareholders meeting online shall not attend the postponed or resumed session.
For a meeting to be postponed or resumed under the second paragraph, the number of shares represented by, and voting rights and election rights exercised by the shareholders who have registered to participate in the affected shareholders meeting and have successfully signed in the meeting, but do not attend the postpone or resumed session, at the affected shareholders meeting, shall be counted towards the total number of shares, number of voting rights and number of election rights represented at the postponed or resumed session.
During a postponed or resumed session of a shareholders meeting held under the second paragraph, no further discussion or resolution is required for proposals for which votes have been cast and counted and results have been announced, or list of elected directors and supervisors.
When this Corporation convenes a hybrid shareholders meeting, and the virtual meeting cannot continue as described in second paragraph, if the total number of shares represented at the meeting, after deducting those represented by shareholders attending the virtual shareholders meeting online, still meets the minimum legal requirement for a shareholder meeting, then the shareholders meeting shall continue, and not postponement or resumption thereof under the second paragraph is required.
Under the circumstances where a meeting should continue as in the preceding paragraph, the shares represented by shareholders attending the virtual meeting online shall be counted towards the total number of shares represented by shareholders present at the meeting, provided these shareholders shall be deemed abstaining from voting on all proposals on meeting agenda of that shareholders meeting.
When postponing or resuming a meeting according to the second paragraph, this Corporation shall handle the preparatory work based on the date of the original shareholders meeting in accordance with the requirements listed under Article 44-20, paragraph 7 of the Regulations Governing the Administration of Shareholder Services of Public Companies.
For dates or period set forth under Article 12, second half, and Article 13, paragraph 3 of Regulations Governing the Use of Proxies for Attendance at Shareholder Meetings of Public Companies, and Article 44-5, paragraph 2, Article 44-15, and Article 44-17, paragraph 1 of the Regulations Governing the Administration of Shareholder Services of Public Companies, this Corporations hall handle the matter based on the date of the shareholders meeting that is postponed or resumed under the second paragraph.
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Article 22
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(Handling of digital divide)
When convening a virtual-only shareholders meeting, this Corporation shall provide appropriate alternative measures available to shareholders with difficulties in attending a virtual shareholders meeting online.
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Article 23
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These Rules shall take effect after having been submitted to and approved by a shareholders meeting. Subsequent amendments thereto shall be effected in the same manner.
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