• On May 3^rd 2021, Proxymity became the first overseas vendor to connect on to the Votaccess platform, allowing global shareholders an unprecedented access to the French market with SRDII compliance.
•  The Proxymity and SLIB partnership offers real-time voting and transparent investor communications for overseas shareholders that wish to connect with French issuers.
• Investors using Votaccess and Proxymity now gain more than a week ahead of meetings to research and vote, facilitating better informed environmental, social and governance (ESG) decisions.

London and Paris (May 6th, 2021) – Proxymity, the leading digital investor communications platform backed by the world’s largest global custodians, and SLIB, the leading-edge software vendor in electronic voting and security services in France, announce their partnership and the connection between proxy voting solution, Proxymity PV, and SLIB’s market-leading Votaccess platform. The interoperability between the two platforms is now live.

The connection between Proxymity PV and Votaccess guarantees that golden source meeting announcements direct from French issuers are instantly disseminated to intermediaries and investors globally, providing significant cost and governance benefits for the market and a solution to the SRDII requirements.

In addition, global votes are sent to issuers in real-time by Proxymity users. The mutual benefits of the improved market processing means:

• Investors directly benefit from an average of six additional days to research ahead of casting their votes. Investors then receive a confirmation that their votes have been received and counted.
• Issuers receive votes as soon as they are cast, allowing them an earlier sight of voting intentions than via any other market solution. Issuers can now determine which shareholders voted on which agenda points and benefit from the ability to communicate with their end-investor.
• Adherence to SRDII requirements.
• Ability to vote remotely which reduces the impact on the environment both due to minimised travel requirements and less paper use.

With the ever-increasing global focus on ESG, votes sent electronically via Proxymity PV and Votaccess removes the requirement to travel to meetings in person. Reduced need for paper and travel for voting has positive impacts on the environment, during and beyond the global COVID pandemic.

“We are thrilled to have collaborated with Proxymity to make this solution available to our clients and customers,” said Philippe Cognet, CEO of SLIB. “Overseas investors can now communicate with French issuers more efficiently than it has ever been possible. This creates better governance and removes perceived barriers to investment in the French market, enhancing French issuers’ attractiveness globally.  We look forward to our ongoing relationship with Proxymity and future improvements and benefits that these new technologies will bring to the market.”

Benefits provided by the collaboration to French issuers have also been noted by AFTI, the National Association of French Issuers.

“For the first time, global investors have the ability to digitally communicate with French issuers” said Dominique De Wit, former President of AFTI (Association Française des Professionnels des Titres). “This end-to-end connection is massively important to all companies in France and the investors that own shares. With the enforcement of SRDII regulations, it is clear that the industry needs to adopt modern technology, and the connection between SLIB’s Votaccess and Proxymity PV is a key indicator of the progress we need in France, the EU and globally.”

Dean Little, CEO and Co-Founder of Proxymity, added: “It’s fantastic to be able to announce that our combined endeavours to connect Proxymity PV to SLIB’s Votaccess platform is live and in operation. France is a crucial international market for Proxymity, and it was a priority to ensure that we had SRDII compliance and full market coverage for this year’s proxy season, the first since SRDII has come into force. The benefits from an ESG point of view are clear to see and are poignant at a time when environmental, societal and governance issue are high on many people’s agendas.”

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About SLIB

SLIB is the leading software solutions provider for register & electronic voting, risk and post-trade markets.

SLIB supports the evolution of the security business in France and abroad by publishing innovative software solutions enabling investment service providers to streamline their process while mastering the risks associated with their activities.

SLIB is also Votaccess Operator, an essential platform for the digitalisation of General Meeting and electronic vote collection during the pre-General Meeting phase.

To offer even more innovative solutions, SLIB relies on TheLab, its research and development department dedicated to Blockchain and artificial intelligence solutions.

Aurélie Dettwyler
Marketing & Communication Director
Tél : +33 6 27 56 65 06
aurelie.dettwyler@slib.com
www.slib.com – www.election-europe.com

Claire-Lise Beaurenault

Communication Manager
Tél : +33 6 70 84 88 75

claire-lise.beaurenault@slib.com
www.slib.com – www.election-europe.com

About Proxymity

Proxymity’s pioneering investor communications platform connects issuers, intermediaries and investors in real-time via its unique digital pathway, bringing efficiency, accuracy and transparency to every participant in the global custody chain.

Our solutions give public companies confidence that their AGM/EGM agendas are transmitted as “golden source” and provide institutional investors with the time they need to research and vote on corporate decisions, as well as actual digital confirmation that their votes have been received.

Proxymity promotes enhanced environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) by improving communication between issuers and investors and making it easier for intermediaries to be efficient, timely and compliant when servicing their clients.

The company is backed by a global consortium of the industry’s most influential financial institutions (BNY Mellon, Citi, Clearstream Computershare, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, and State Street).

For more information, visit www.proxymity.io

Proxymity press contact: k.omenaka@proxymity.io