Annual report 2009 - Santander

74The channels of communications available to theshareholders are:• Service lines in Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico and theUnited States, which this year replied to 261,698 questionsand which operate as a contact centre that is innovative in thefinancial sector because of its proactive approach.• The Shareholder’s Mailbox, increasingly used and throughwhich any new developments regarding the Group are timelyreported to the 103,271 shareholders subscribed. This year,17,515 e-mails from shareholders were answered.• The Shareholder’s Forum, consisting of periodic meetings tomake information on the Group and its prospects available toshareholders, reply to all kinds of questions and receivesuggestions. 175 forums were held this year, attended by14,150 shareholders in Spain, the United Kingdom, France,Switzerland, Mexico and the United States. In order toincrease the added value provided, well-known specialistsparticipated in some shareholder forums, contributing theiranalysis and experience on matters of great interest to theshareholders.• In addition, 520,647 letters from the shareholders wereprocessed.• The large shareholders unit also carries out its activities fromwithin this area.In 2009, the shareholder area launched its commercial websiteyosoyaccionista.santander.com, with access being restricted toSantander shareholders. This private website contemplatestwo different shareholder profiles, young and adult, and boththe contents and the design are adapted to the needs ofeach group.Finally, in compliance with recommendations of the NationalSecurities Market Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercadode Valores or CNMV) on meetings with analysts and investors,both notices of meetings and the documentation to be usedthereat are being published sufficiently in advance.5. General shareholders’ meetings held in 2009Information on the calls to meeting, the establishment of aquorum thereat, attendance, proxy-granting and votingExtraordinary general shareholders’ meeting of26 January 2009Notice of the call to the 2009 extraordinary generalshareholders’ meeting was published on 23 December 2008,34 days prior to the date of the meeting. A total of 156,864shareholders attended, in person and by proxy, with3,834,363,736 shares. The quorum was thus 47.965% of theshare capital of the Bank.The following data are stated as percentages of the Bank’s sharecapital:Meeting of 26 January 20092009Physically present 0.237% (1)By proxy 31,843% (2)Remote votes 15.885% (3)Total 47,965% (3)(1) Of such percentage (0.237%), 0.0004% is the percentage of the share capitalthat attended by remote means through the Internet.(2) The percentage of share capital that granted proxies through the Internetwas 0.014%.(3) Of such percentage (15.885%), 15.881% is the percentage of votes castby postal mail and 0.004% is the percentage of electronic votes.Annual general shareholders’ meeting of 19 June 2009Notice of the call to the 2009 annual general shareholders’meeting was published on 12 May, 38 days prior to the date ofthe meeting. A total of 260,913 shareholders attended, inperson and by proxy, with 4,455,156,135 shares. The quorumwas thus 54.627% of the share capital of the Bank.The average percentage of affirmative votes upon which theproposals submitted by the board were approved was 96.338%.The following data are stated as percentages of the Bank’s sharecapital:Meeting of 19 June 20092009Physically present 0.312% (1)By proxy 35.824% (2)Remote votes 18.419% (3)Total 54.627% (3)(1) Of such percentage (0.312 %), 0.001% is the percentage of the share capitalthat attended by remote means through the Internet.(2) The percentage of share capital that granted proxies through the Internet was0.017%.(3) Of such percentage (18.491%), 18.487% is the percentage of votes cast bypostal mail and 0.004% is the percentage of electronic votes.Resolutions adopted at the shareholders’ meetingsheld in 2009The full text of the resolutions adopted at the 2009shareholders’ meetings is available on the websites of both theGroup (www.santander.com) and the CNMV (www.cnmv.es).The average percentage of affirmative votes upon which theproposals submitted by the board were approved was 97.060%.Annual report 2009 Corporate governance report