Citi has expanded its UK-based digital proxy voting platform, Proxymity, to Europe after a successful pilot in Spain.
Following the launch in the UK last year, Proxymity has processed over $22.5 billion worth of shares during UK shareholder meetings.
It recently completed the pilot with two leading IBEX 35 companies in Spain that used the platform for their 2019 general shareholder meetings.
“We are very pleased to have been a part of the pilot phase in Spain and look forward to using the Proxymity platform again for future meetings,” said Juan José Zúñiga Benavides, head of equity markets at Iberdrola.
“It was good to test Proxymity during this season and we know that there is a lot more potential in the platform. There is an opportunity here to solve more of our problems and improve the ease with which our institutional shareholder cast their votes to us.”
Citi has also implemented a number of key enhancements in order to successfully complete the pilot in Spain and meet specific needs of local issuers and shareholders. These included the development of a central repository for ‘golden source’ materials, such as meeting agendas and resolutions.
The repository enables all parties in the custodial chain to access the same files in a centralised and secured environment for all meeting supported on the Proxymity platform.
“As we continue to expand the platform, this agile development strategy will be key to help our users meet the Shareholders Rights Directive II requirements on a market by market basis,” said Jon Smalley, co-founder of the Proxymity platform at Citi.