Wiesbaden, 20 April 2020 – Aareal Bank AG will hold its Annual General Meeting on 27 May 2020 as a virtual AGM, without physical presence of shareholders or their authorised representatives. This was resolved by Aareal Bank's Management Board, with the approval of the Supervisory Board, against the background of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Holding the virtual AGM on the date originally scheduled, the Bank will use this format on the basis of new legal options established for shareholder meetings in Germany, in order to protect the health and safety of shareholders, staff, and other persons involved.
Agenda items to be voted on will include the proposal, submitted by the Management Board and the Supervisory Board, that net retained profit for the 2019 financial year will not be used to distribute dividends at this point in time, but that it be allocated to other retained earnings instead. As already communicated on 5 April 2020, Aareal Bank thus complies with a request by the European Central Bank (ECB) to institutions under its direct supervision to refrain from paying out any dividends for the financial years 2019 and 2020, at least until 1 October 2020. However, the Management Board reserves the right to submit a new proposal for appropriation of profits to a potential additional General Meeting at a later point in time, having re-assessed the situation – provided that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic can be assessed with more certainty at that time, and that such distribution is feasible given the prevailing market situation.
The entire Annual General Meeting on 27 May 2020 will be transmitted by means of an audio-visual broadcast to duly registered shareholders and their authorised representatives, via a shareholder portal on Aareal Bank's website (Investors – General Meeting 2020). Shareholders will also be able to exercise their voting rights, or to appoint a proxy, via this portal. Moreover, shareholders will have the opportunity to submit questions by means of electronic communication until 24 May 2020.
Further details, as well as the full agenda, will be set out in the invitation to the Annual General Meeting, and on Aareal Bank's website.
