Netflix amends law to let shareholders nominate board members

MUMBAI: Streaming giant Netflix has amended its bylaws to allow its shareholders with a 3 percent stake to nominate board members. This move is definitely a victory for the stakeholders on a key corporate-governance issue after a year of voting for such proposal known as proxy access.

The amendment allows a shareholder, or a group of up to 20 stakeholders, owning at least 3 percent of its outstanding shares for at least three years may nominate up to two directors, or can have a representation of up to 20 percent of the company’s board.

“The board periodically reviews our corporate governance, and determined that adopting proxy access is appropriate at this time, ” the streaming platform said in a statement. At Netflix’s annual meeting in last June, a non-binding proposal to adopt the proxy access bylaw was approved. Previously, the company opposed the proposal by shareholders.

“By enacting proxy access, Netflix is finally giving investors a meaningful voice in board elections and they are no longer an outlier holding out on their long-term shareowners,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer commented on the move.