Joint Statement by Canadian Banks and Life Insurance Companies Regarding Annual Meetings in 2023
TORONTO, Dec. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This is a joint statement issued by BMO, CIBC, Canadian Western Bank, Laurentian Bank, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank, TD Bank Group, Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life, Manulife and Sun Life. Each of us continues to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the directives and recommendations from public health and government authorities. In the last few years, we have been taking a series of proactive precautionary measures to help protect the health and well-being of our employees, clients and communities. This degree of care and concern extends to all of our shareholders and policyholders. Although the COVID-19 situation has improved since the 2022 annual meeting cycle, we have been carefully considering alternatives for our respective meetings in light of the continued and unpredictable nature of COVID-19, and potential protocols recommended by public health authorities and organizations.
As a result, we have once again jointly obtained a court order that enables our 2023 annual meetings to be held, as electronic-only or as hybrid meetings, as determined by each financial institution. The order permits our meetings to be conducted over one or more of webcasting, teleconference or other electronic means, in each case in addition to, or instead of, an in-person meeting, and permits alternative means for distributing meeting materials. In March 2020, December 2020 and December 2021, we jointly obtained a similar court order. The order was obtained because Canadian banks and insurance companies are not permitted to conduct an electronic annual meeting in lieu of an in-person meeting without relief from the court.
We believe these are prudent and precautionary measures that balance public health and well-being with the ability of shareholders and policyholders to attend and exercise their rights. Each institution is committed to presenting their respective meeting in a manner that supports constructive shareholder engagement.
The specific arrangements for each annual meeting will be announced separately, by each financial institution, prior to the scheduled date. We encourage our shareholders and policyholders to visit our websites in advance of our annual meetings for the most current information.
Bank of Montreal BMO Life Assurance Company Media Relations Jeff Roman (416) 867-3996 jeff.roman@bmo.com Investor Relations | The Bank of Nova Scotia Media Relations Clancy Zeifman (416) 520-3906 clancy.zeifman@scotiabank.com Investor Relations |
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Media Relations Tom Wallis (416) 980-4048 tom.wallis@cibc.com | Canadian Western Bank Investor Relations Chris Williams (780) 508-8229 chris.williams@cwbank.com |
Laurentian Bank of Canada Media Relations Merick Seguin (514) 451-3201 merick.seguin@lbcfg.ca Investor Relations | National Bank of Canada Media Relations Marie-Pierre Jodoin (514) 394-4209 mariepierre.jodoin@nbc.ca Investor Relations |
Royal Bank of Canada RBC Life Insurance Company Media Relations Gillian McArdle (416) 842-4231 gillian.mcardle@rbc.com Investor Relations | The Toronto-Dominion Bank Media Relations Elizabeth Goldenshtein (647) 625-3124 elizabeth.goldenshtein@td.com Investor Relations |
Great-West Lifeco Inc. The Canada Life Assurance Company Media Relations Liz Kulyk (204) 391-8515 media.relations@canadalife.com Investor Relations | Manulife Financial Corporation The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Media Relations Cheryl Holmes (416) 557-0945 cheryl_holmes@manulife.com Investor Relations |
Sun Life Financial Inc. Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada Media Relations Rajani Kamath (416) 979-6070 rajani.kamath@sunlife.com Investor Relations |