KAS Bank is to test a new blockchain-based service for shareholding voting at its own General Shareholders Meeting later this week.
Voteroom was developed by the company’s in-house innovation lab to tackle shareholder anonymity and complex proxy voting issues.
KAS Bank intends to demonstrate the tech, developed using the Ethereum framework, at its own general meeting before making it available for listed companies to purchase.
The group expects to find plenty of willing takers for the system as insurers, pension schemes and institutional investors increasingly need to demonstrate accountability for their investment policy decisions.
Pat Sharman, UK managing director says Voteroom will expedite collation of ballots and significantly improve reporting transparency.
“Policymakers and trustees are increasingly looking to improve governance standards of pension schemes and we want to assist with this challenge across the investment process, he says. "Upholding shareholder’s democratic voting rights, we identified the gap for improved efficiency and transparency when communicating shareholders’ decisions on investment policies.”