주주권 강화를 위한 전자투표제도의 법적 과제

Abstract

In a stock company which is established with the issuance of shares, the general meeting of shareholders is both the foremost decision making organization and the management supervisory organization in the company, through which shareholders can participate in the management of the company made with the payment. It is also one of the systems for the democratization of economy. So, it is important to enable the electronic ballot system to actively be adopted in this IT period as it contributes to the strengthening of the right of shareholders. The electronic ballot system is a system in which the shareholders can cast their votes regardless of where they are located. As it is easy to exercise the votes under this system, it can be said as one way of strengthening the rights of shareholders. But in reality, even though this system was introduced 4 years ago, only 45 companies have adopted the system. In addition, most of the companies which adopted the system are the special purpose companies or the ship investing companies. If a system is not adopted even though the system has been available, it cannot be used for the shareholders. Therefore, it is desirable to make the adoption of the system mandatory for the protection of the shareholders' right. For the facilitation of the electronic ballot system, there are something to be solved in advance, including the relation with the written votes, exercise of votes through proxy and exercise of votes in disunity. Also, the revocation, and change in electronic voting shall be allowed to reflect the true intention of the shareholders in the votes. In addition, it is desirable to specifically describe the diversification of identity confirmation process, period of exercise of the electronic voting and the responsibilities and the electronic voting management committee in the related laws. The bill for the mandatory adoption of the electronic ballot system has been submitted to National Assembly by an assemblyman and even the ministry of justice is also trying to pass the bill as one of their targets. So, it is expected that the adoption of mandatory electronic ballot system would be the law soon. If the bill is made into the official law, the system would lead to the activation of the general meeting of general shareholders and the general meeting of shareholders becoming the upper decision making institutions of the company.