집중투표제 의무화에 대한 소고(小考)

Abstract

In the case of South Korea, the cumulative voting system in the selection of directors was introduced for the first time in the revision of the Commercial Law on December 28, 1998 to promote transparency and rationality of corporate management and to protect minority shareholders and improve corporate governance after the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The reason why the cumulative voting system has become a hot topic is that it appoints directors who form a core structure of corporate governance. If directors are appointed under the cumulative voting system, directors under the influence of controlling shareholders can appoint directors who can represent the benefits of minority shareholders, and, above all, can make corporate management transparent. A cumulative voting system can be chosen under the Commercial Law, but if the articles of association are set differently, an intensive voting system may not be adopted. Therefore, a company may not introduce a cumulative voting system by changing the articles of association. Taking this into account, the revised Commercial Law (2013, 2016 and July 2020) intended to revise a cumulative voting system as mandatory. However, for the economic democratization, there has been a sharp conflict between those who support and those who oppose the mandatory cumulative voting system. If the cumulative voting system, which is defined as an arbitrary option by current law, defined as a mandatory option, it will improve the monopolistic phenomenon of controlling shareholders’ appointment of board members and enhance corporate transparency as well. However, in the situation of sharp disagreements between pros and cons, the revision should be made into a law for “business-friendly environment” in any environment. Even if the compulsory enforcement of cumulative voting system provides minority shareholders with the opportunity to express their opinions at the board of directors, and secures more monitoring functions for management’s management activities by obtaining a lot of information about the company’s various situations, the revision of the law about the mandatory voting system should be pondered. This study will examine the current status of the use of the cumulative voting system and the institutional problems, and review the amendment of 2020. As a way to improve the amendment, we will consider the plan for the compulsory enforcement of cumulative voting system suitable for our country through considering stricter requirements for the appointment of directors and stricter regulations on means of avoidance.