Salada Foods Jamaica Limited, through one of its directors, Patrick Williams, has filed a claim in the Supreme Court seeking permission, on behalf of the company, to hold its general meetings partially or wholly by electronic means.

The court has fixed a date for the first hearing of that claim for Thursday February 18, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.

Williams, who was appointed chairman of the board on March 5, 2015, and has served as a director since February 8, 2012, is seeking an order from the court pursuant to section 130(2) of the Companies Act for, among other things, permitting Salada to hold its general meetings for the years 2021 -2023 partially or wholly by electronic means given restrictions on gatherings arising from COVID-19.

Several other listed companies collectively filed similar claims, through the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) last year, which were approved by the courts, allowing them to hold their general meetings in electronic or hybrid forms.

Last year, the JSE went to the Supreme Court on two occasions on behalf of listed companies and on both occasions got the court to sanction them hosting their annual general meetings (AGMs)  virtually. The last time this was done was last October.

At that time, the JSE sought a court order for seven listed companies that were unable to host an AGM given the COVID-19 restrictions. They were NCB Financial Group, Jamaica Broilers Group, Wisynco Group, Caribbean Assurance Brokers KLE Group, Everything Fresh Limited and Ciboney Group, most of which have since held their AGMs virtually.

Prior to that, in June 2020, the JSE filed a similar application permitting 16 public companies to hold their AGMs fully or partly by electronic means.

Among the 16 companies which previously got permission for virtual AGMs were JMMB Group Limited, Caribbean Cement Limited, Barita Investments Limited, Berger Paints Jamaica Limited, Lasco Distributors Limited, FosRich Company Limited, Lasco Financial Services Limited and Lasco Manufacturing Limited.

Main Event Limited, Mayberry Investments Limited, Sagicor Group Jamaica, Supreme Ventures Limited, the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Trans Jamaica Highway, Victoria Mutual Investments Limited and Wigton Windfarm Limited complete the list.

Most of these companies have since hosted their AGMs virtually in accordance with the court ruling and in compliance with JSE rules.