What is an Annual General Meeting (AGM)?

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a yearly meeting where shareholders (retail, wholesale, private, share traders, investors, etc), as part owners of the company can legally ask the board of directors questions pertaining to the publicly listed company's corporate strategy and financials.

Shareholders must be given prior notice of the AGM with the time, place and agenda. Among the number of issues which can come up in the AGM can include: executive and director renumeration, internal company issues, company decisions and strategies executed within the past year and others.

Other types of meetings besides the AGM are: the MGM (Monthly General Meeting) and the EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting - where shareholders can come together to solve a problem or vote on a pressing issue such as the dismissal of an executive).

In Australia, the Corporations Act 2001 details the legal requirements of an Annual General Meeting. The Act states that "A public company must hold an annual general meeting (AGM) within 18 months after its registration." And that "A public company must hold an AGM at least once in each calendar year and within 5 months after the end of its financial year." During the meeting there will be consideration made to the annual financial report, the directors and auditors report. The auditor must also be present and available to shareholders to give them the opportunity to ask questions relevant to their audit of the company.At the AGM, shareholders are also invited to elect the Board of Directors.