The Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance - Statoil

6. General meetingsThe board of directors should take steps to ensure that as manyshareholders as possible may exercise their rights by participating ingeneral meetings of the company, and that general meetings are aneffective forum for the views of shareholders and the board.Such steps should include:• making the notice calling the meeting and the support informationon the resolutions to be considered at the general meeting, includingthe recommendations of the nomination committee, available onthe company’s website no later than 21 days prior to the date of thegeneral meeting• ensuring that the resolutions and supporting information distributedare sufficiently detailed and comprehensive to allow shareholders toform a view on all matters to be considered at the meeting• setting any deadline for shareholders to give notice of their intentionto attend the meeting as close to the date of the meeting as possible• the board of directors and the person chairing the meetingmaking appropriate arrangements for the general meeting tovote separately on each candidate nominated for election to thecompany's corporate bodies• ensuring that the members of the board of directors and thenomination committee and the auditor are present at the generalmeeting• making arrangements to ensure an independent chairman for thegeneral meetingShareholders who cannot attend the meeting in person should begiven the opportunity to vote. The company should:• provide information on the procedure for representation at themeeting through a proxy,• nominate a person who will be available to vote on behalf ofshareholders as their proxy• to the extent possible prepare a form for the appointment of aproxy, which allows separate voting instructions to be given foreach matter to be considered by the meeting and for each of thecandidates nominated for election.23 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE