To thank those present for taking the time to attend today's meeting. Your support and interest in the company's affairs are appreciated by the board. Firstly, I would like to introduce my fellow directors present today. Todd Buckingham, Simon Delahunty, and Matthew Davey. Also present at today's meeting is our company secretary, Charly Duffy, CFO , Anthony Pullin, and our Audit Partner, Paul Pearman. Today's meeting is being held online via the Lumi platform. This allows shareholders, proxies, and guests to attend the meeting virtually. All attendees can watch a live webcast of the meeting. In addition, shareholders and proxies have the ability to ask questions and submit votes. There is a slight 20- 30 second delay between me presenting to you today and you receiving the audio. I ask that you all please be patient if there are slight pauses throughout the meeting.
Online attendees can submit questions at any time. To ask a question, select the Messaging tab at the top of the Lumi platform, and at the top of that tab, there is a selection for you to type your question. Once you've finished typing, please hit the arrow symbol to send. Please note that while you can submit questions from now on, I will not address them until the relevant time in the meeting. Please also note that your questions may be moderated, or if we receive multiple questions on one topic, amalgamated together. For those shareholders who wish to ask a verbal question, an audio question facility is available during this meeting. To use this service, please pause the broadcast on the Lumi platform and then click on the link under Asking Audio Questions.
A new page will open where you will be prompted to enter your name and the topic of your question being connected. You will listen to the meeting at this page while waiting to answer your question. If you have any issues using the system, please return to the Lumi platform. Finally, due to time restraints, we may not get to answer all your questions. If this happens, we will answer them in due course via email, posting responses on our website. Voting today will be conducted by way of poll on all terms of business. In order to provide you with enough time to vote, I will shortly open voting for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a new voting tab will appear. Selecting this tab will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options.
To cast your vote, simply select one of the options. There is no need to hit a submit or enter button as the vote is automatically recorded. You do, however, have the ability to change your vote up until the time I declare voting closed. After discussion of each resolution and before the resolution is put to the meeting, I will disclose the way in which proxy votes have been cast on the resolution and the way in which other usable proxy votes given to the chair of the meeting will be cast. I now declare voting open on all items of business. The voting tab will soon appear. Please submit your votes at any time. I will give you a warning before I close voting. The Company Secretary has informed me that we have a quorum present.
I therefore declare this annual general meeting of BetMakers Technology Group Ltd open. Before we commence with the formal part of the meeting, I would like to invite our CEO and Managing Director, Todd Buckingham, to make his address to the meeting.
Thank you, Nick. To my fellow shareholders, I'm pleased to update you on the company's progress and performance in FY 2021. The company reported FY 2021 revenues of AUD 19.5 million, which represents a 127% increase on FY 2020. The result was driven by rising demand for BetMakers products and services in Australia and overseas, and included two weeks of revenues from the company's acquisition of Sportech racing and digital businesses, which completed on the eighteenth of June, 2021. The Sportech acquisition and acceleration of the company's strategy in the U.S. market, including fixed odds betting on horse racing, were highlights in a transformational year for BetMakers on the global wagering stage.
BetMakers now operates in more than 30 countries with more than 200 customers, and we believe we are one of the leading B2B suppliers for racing around the world. Each sector of our business, including Global Racing Network, Global Betting Services, and Global Tote, is in a position for continued growth throughout FY 2022 and beyond. As Chief Executive Officer, I could not be more excited about the potential of the company and the size of the opportunities our dedicated teams have established globally. We have successfully built on our position as a core data and technology partner to the global racing industry for racing bodies, rights holders, and wagering operators, with demand for digital wagering and integrity products growing in Australia and internationally. It is especially pleasing that our collective vision for the company over the past three years is being clearly actioned.
Management and staff are implementing plans and executing on a global strategy that has been supported by the company's board. The strategy, which at its core has a focus on creating and delivering best-in-class B2B wagering and integrity-led products that monetize content for stakeholders across the global racing ecosystem, has delivered sustained value growth for shareholders. This is demonstrated by the share price performance over the past two years. In FY 2020, we recorded 844% growth. In FY 2021, the growth was another 152%. I'm thankful for the support of shareholders, especially long-term holders and those who invested as part of the BetMakers journey. It has at times been a voyage into uncharted waters, but we have always believed in staying the course and that the prize we were sailing towards would not come without some rough seas.
Over the course of FY 2021, BetMakers has continued to grow its domestic business in Australia while navigating new territories and markets that have now established the foundations for the company's next phase of growth globally. In pioneering by advocating fixed odds betting in the horse racing industry in the United States and subsequently the approvals by law in the state of New Jersey, we are playing a leading role in the innovation and evolution of horse racing. By continuing to pursue strategic opportunities such as the acquisition of Sportech PLC's racing and digital assets, we are investing in global opportunities that we believe can achieve significant scale for the company, while also providing financial strength to the global horse racing industry as it competes with other sports, both for audiences and share of wagering.
In building this vision, we have assembled some of the best executives and advisors available in global wagering. Matthew Davey, a global entrepreneur in the wagering space and BetMakers' biggest shareholder, has committed to the long-term growth of the company and has been a valued addition, serving as a Non-Executive Director on our board. Matthew Tripp, a pioneer in online wagering in Australia, bought into BetMakers during FY 2021 and agreed to an exclusive advisory contract for the company on a B2B wagering globally. We now have Australian offices in three states, Newcastle, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and a highly skilled development and race day operations team in Sri Lanka. Together with the acquisition of Sportech racing and digital assets, we have offices in eight countries.
The culmination of this growth in talented people and geographies is the intention to create one of the most prominent companies in the global wagering sector. I would like to thank BetMakers Chairman of the Board, Nick Chan, who has been with the company since its inception, and all board members for their support in FY 2021. The board, management, and staff remain mindful that this year has again been very difficult period for many people around the world during waves of the coronavirus, and we extend our thoughts to all those affected. The company's resilience as a borderless digital business has been evidenced more than ever this year. Just as importantly, the ability of our staff to operate under times of duress and still deliver the highest quality and continuity of service has been remarkable.
Finally, with the addition of staff from all over the world who have embraced the BetMakers culture and passion, I would personally like to thank all of you. We are aligned as a company with a clear vision and coherent action plans, and we are excited.
Thank you, Todd. This now brings us to the formal part of the meeting. There are seven items of business, including five resolutions which have been listed in the notice of meeting. The notice of meeting was sent to shareholders in October, and I will take that as read. Before we consider the items of business, there are a number of procedural matters I wish to draw your attention to. While our visitors and guests are most welcome here today, this is a shareholders' meeting and only shareholders, their attorneys, proxies, and authorized company representatives are entitled to ask questions and vote at this meeting. I am holding undirected proxies in my capacity as chair, and it is my intention to vote all such proxies in favor of all resolutions.
Any directed proxies that are not voted at the meeting will automatically default to me as chair of the meeting, and I am required to vote those proxies as directed. The final results of the polls will be available later today on the ASX. Financial statements and reports. The first item on the agenda is to receive and consider the annual report of the company, together with the declarations by the directors, the directors' report, the remuneration report, and the auditor's report for the financial year ended June 30, 2021. This item does not require a resolution to be put to the meeting, but does provide an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions or make comment on company matters. The company's auditor, Paul Pearman, is available to address any questions in relation to the conduct of the audit or the content of the audit report.
Any questions to the auditor should be directed to me as chair in the first instance. If you have a question on this item and have not yet submitted it using the chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your questions in the chat box now.
Nick, we've received a number of general questions which we can start to go through now. The first one is. Is BetMakers a part of the Matthew Tripp bid for WA TAB?
I think I'll answer that question. No, we're not. BetMakers as a B2B operation does service a significant part of the wagering industry. We would obviously be in the, I would imagine, if there is a formal bid from Mr. Tripp, then we would be tendering for our services as well.
Thank you. Next question is: The recent media on the BetMakers partnership with RWWA, that we will provide fixed odds, win place, and exotic bet types for all codes of racing across RWWA's sales channels, including Tabtouch, as well as more than 320 retail agencies. I would have assumed that this was material and needed to be announced to the market. Can you please explain the reasoning to not release to the market?
Charly, I might ask you to answer that as Company Secretary, please.
Sure. The ASX only allows BetMakers to announce deals that it considers will have a material impact on the price or value of BET shares. Due to the significant increase in the share price over FY 2021, the board considers that this commercial deal with RWWA is not significant enough to have a material impact on the price or value of BET shares. As a result, the ASX listing rules doesn't permit BET to announce the RWWA deal as a standalone announcement.
Thanks for that, Charly.
Next question was, did any of the five main proxy advisors in the Australian market, being ACSI, ASA, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, and ISS, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions? Which of the proxy advisors are covering us? Has there been a material proxy protest vote against any of today's resolutions? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on today's resolution, so shareholders can ask questions if there have been any protest votes?
Thanks. I'll answer that. The question is, the company isn't able to comment on proxy advisors and their recommendations. If shareholders, I think, wish to access the insights of proxy advisors, we recommend that they subscribe to the proxy advisors subscriptions. I can confirm that proxy votes will be disclosed before we invite discussion on today's resolutions.
Thank you. Another one is: With the New Jersey fixed odds rules and regulations being approved, which do you believe will be the next states in the U.S. to approve fixed odds wagering?
Todd, I might ask you to answer that.
Yeah. Not a problem, Nick. There's already been some movement. There's some regulations that have been put forward in Colorado. Then over the weekend or late Friday night, there's been a recommendation put forward from New York as well. You know, we believe that what we're doing in New Jersey is going to have a model to follow. We would expect that other states follow. Obviously, you can see by the response of those states, Colorado and New York, already that there's a movement in place. We would expect that would continue with other states as well.
Thanks, Todd.
Next question.
Sure.
Given the interesting discussion across a range of topics that is unlikely to unfold today and the inability to hold physical AGMs, could the Chair undertake to make an archived copy of the webcast, plus a full transcript of proceedings available on the company's website? Nine Entertainment Chairman Peter Costello, who appreciates the benefit of a parliamentary Hansard script transcript where MPs don't have to scroll through old videos to find out what was said, made this change earlier this month and had a full transcript of Nine's AGM online before the end of the day. Can we match that timeframe?
Look, first of all, we take this request on notice, and we will be able to upload a copy of the webcast on the website. We'll see what we can do to provide shareholders with a transcript of today's discussions as soon as possible.
Next one is: Did Mastercard have any ethical concerns about partnering with BetMakers and EML Payments to launch the global Bookies Card? To what extent, if at all, does this card facilitate the provision of gambling industry credit? And are there money laundering risks? Has AUSTRAC signed off on this product, and who are our biggest competitors in this space?
Anthony, do you wanna answer that or Todd? One of you.
Yeah, Nick, I can do it. Mastercard, don't believe they had any ethical concerns regarding this card, and it's not the first type of card in the market. There are a number of other wagering operators with very similar products. For us, the Bookies Card was more about providing our platform clients with an additional product. Regarding credit, no, it doesn't facilitate any gambling industry credit. Regarding anti money laundering risks and the AUSTRAC sign-off, the card does carry the usual AML risks associated with it. It's probably worth noting that, with regards to AUSTRAC sign-off, EML is actually the issuer of the card and the reporting entity for the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism purposes.
Thanks, Anthony.
The next question. Aristocrat has offered $5 billion for UK-listed gambling software company Playtech, and already two other rival bidders have emerged. Please comment on whether BetMakers has any common features to Playtech and whether we anticipate also potentially being the subject of takeover interest, given the gambling sector's gambling technology sector is so hot at the moment. Do any of our offerings compete with Aristocrat or potentially interest them?
Todd, do you wanna answer at least the first part in terms of our services?
Just to be clear, BetMakers is a B2B supplier, but predominantly in the horse racing space, and that's where we've concentrated. Playtech is a $5 billion company who really concentrate on European markets, European sports. We haven't had a great deal of crossover between the businesses. You know, we believe that we are in a hot sector, obviously. We believe that horse racing is going to obviously be of interest to Playtech and other companies as well, as they expand their product range from sports into horse racing. In regards to bids and the like, I don't think we're in a position to be able to answer that.
Thanks, Todd. Yeah, any bid kind of discussion would be just speculative. Thank you. CharlY?
Another one. On the announcement on the fourth of November regarding fixed odds betting on horse racing, it mentioned it would update the market shortly in regards to when it intends to begin with its partners, the facilitation of fixed odds betting in New Jersey. As this was over two weeks ago, when do you anticipate this announcement being made to the market on this?
Todd, perhaps you can answer that in terms of our progress on that.
Yeah. Obviously, it's been a busy two weeks. You know, as a company, we can't announce anything unless we have got some clear parameters. That being said, we are working around the clock with regulators and our partners as well to ensure that happens in as short a space of time as possible. As we've flagged to the market, there'll be an announcement as soon as we get into position to be able to announce the striking of the first bet in New Jersey.
Thanks, Todd.
Next question. Nick, you used to be the CEO of TXT Media, a public company which prided itself on operating ethically. Now you're the Chairman of a gambling industry outfit. Do you ever reflect on the ethics of operating in the gambling industry? What steps have you personally taken to ensure that BetMakers is not inflicting unnecessary harm on gamblers?
That's an interesting question. Look, just to say that we obviously, as BetMakers, we subscribe to responsible gambling. We acknowledge that, as well as other areas such as AUSTRAC and anti-money laundering. It is a legal product as such, and we operate in regulated industries, and we pride ourselves on being able to deliver fully regulated markets that we operate in. As to my own reflection, I think I'll just keep those private. Thank you.
I will just cover off on that, Nick. Just to reiterate, we do operate in regulated markets. Integrity is a huge part of what we try and do with BetMakers and working with rights holders. It's important to us that the players are protected by operating in those markets.
Next question. The BetMakers has recently been added to the ASX 300. Could Nick Chan please comment on why, as chairman, he insisted only on 10 minutes of formal presentations today? Can Nick undertake that next year's AGM will be taken more seriously, including at least 20 minutes of formal presentations? Also, why was there no video of today's AGM? Would you be expecting racing fans to only listen to audio rather than view video of races around the world? Faceless executives and directors is not how most ASX 300 companies run their AGMs.
Thank you. We take that on notice and we would hope that next year we can actually have not a virtual meeting and have an actual meeting. We would hope that that can occur. There is no reason why we would not be operating of a 20-minute presentation. Thank you.
A couple more questions now. You've given reasons why you did not deem the tie-up with RWWA worthy enough of a standalone ASX announcement. What is the projected turnover for this tie-up to BetMakers? Ballpark figure will do.
Do you want me to take this, Nick?
To the extent that, you're not disclosing confidential information, yes.
We obviously can't disclose commercial agreements, and we don't intend to disclose commercial agreements. We will say that we value the RWWA agreement important in BetMakers in terms of working with that company and/or that business. You know, we see it as a really important agreement. How that reflects onto the share market, the ASX have got their rules, and we need to abide by those rules. You know, we would like to put all of our announcements on the ASX, but obviously we can't put announcements on there that haven't got a material impact on the share price.
You know, while we feel it's important and we think it's a very good deal for BetMakers and for RWWA, our hands are tied in that regard.
Thanks, Todd.
Another one. BetMakers shares have soared from as low as AUD 0.08 in January last year to AUD 1 today. Well done on such outstanding performance. The CEO, Todd Buckingham, owns 14.7 million shares outright and is therefore a flight risk. Could he potentially sell all his shares and retire? Could Todd comment on whether his shares are pledged to any financiers or, and could the REM Chair comment on what steps we are taking to retain his services, given he is now independently wealthy, on paper at least?
Sorry, Charly, could you maybe repeat that question very quickly?
Sure. Could Todd comment on whether his shares are pledged to any financiers? Could the Remuneration and Nomination Chair comment on what steps that is taking to retain Todd's services, given he is now independently wealthy?
Well, first of all, Todd's shares aren't pledged to any financial institution, otherwise he would be required to declare that. Secondly, I would invite Simon Dulhunty, who's our Nomination and Remuneration chair to answer the second part of that question. Simon?
Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the question. First of all, I would like to state that the board is incredibly happy with Todd's performance. In place, as part of the Nom Rem committee, we have set performance metrics for Todd, and they include a ten-year period, and we have secured Todd's commitment to the company ongoing and are very happy to have done so.
Thanks, Simon.
Okay.
Any further questions? Yeah.
Now that we're an ASX 300 company, isn't it time that we moved our main office from Newcastle to Sydney and also took on a Big Four accounting firm? How long are we locked into having PKF as our auditor, and when did we last put the audit out to tender? How much more expensive would a Big Four audit be? Could the audit committee chair please also contribute to this answer?
Well, first of all, let me just answer the first part of the question. There's no intention of us to move the main office from Newcastle to Sydney. We're more than happy with where our head office is, and as a B2B business, we do move around to see our clients who are positioned all around not only Australia but internationally. PKF has served as our auditor since our IPO in 2015. Given that we've just recently acquired Sportech and had a different auditing firm there, I think at some point we will need to put the audit out to tender. I can't comment in terms of the expense of a Big Four auditor.
From our perspective, it'll be about the excellence of the auditing process, not necessarily the brand behind them. Matthew Davey, as Chair of the Audit Committee, I'm not sure if you'd like to add to that at all.
I think that's right. Nick, we're focused on outcomes here, not brand names, and I think our approach has been sensible. Obviously, the company's expanded rapidly, and we're comfortable with the internal financial controls and auditing that's going on at the moment. As you suggest, we will be going out to market at some point to tender, and we will look for the best provider for our business as it's structured today.
Thanks, Matt.
Two more at this stage. What is your assessment of market price drift over the last few weeks, given what is projected in the coming weeks from New Jersey?
What is your assessment of market price drift? Look, you know, the stock market will do what the stock market does, and our share price will do what it also does. As Todd has alluded, we have gone through the bulk of our regulation in New Jersey, and we are now awaiting the real execution elements of what we can do with fixed odds betting in racing in New Jersey. We anticipate that should come in the next several weeks.
Just to reiterate on that too, Nick, we're taking a long-term view on the horse racing industry as a whole in the U.S. market, not just New Jersey as well. It is not a short game. This is not going to be something that's gonna turn on and instantly be hugely successful. This is going to be a strong, steady growth, we believe, over the coming years. From our perspective, it's not about, you know, where the share price is today or, you know, we just need to execute on our plan for not only New Jersey, but the whole of the U.S. market. If we execute, then the rewards will come.
On that same theme, another question's come through, which is, do you have any comment on the amount of shorting taking place with Bet?
No.
Another couple of questions. What is BetMakers doing to reach 30% female representation on its board? Have we retained a search firm to assist in dealing with this issue, as we have one of the smallest boards in the ASX 300? Who are the most senior female executives at the company? Is the board satisfied with the diversity achieved at the executive level?
I might answer that even though we do have a discussion in terms of the board's fees later on. Let's answer that right now. We anticipate we have set ourselves a target to reach 25% of female representation on this board by June 2022. There's no reason why we shouldn't exceed that and no reason why we can't do that sooner.
We have actually retained a search firm to assist us with increasing the board size as well as covering off a range of skills that we've identified as the board that's required for us, not only as an ASX 300 company, but as a business that's now dealing internationally as well with global assets all around the world. The most senior female executives in the company, there are a number. Obviously, our company secretary, Charly Duffy, our leader of people and culture, and a number of senior executives in the U.K.
While we're on board matters, there's been a question that's come through that says, "Treasury Wine Estates has voluntarily moved to annual elections for directors in line with best practice that occurs in both the U.S. and the U.K. Dual-listed companies like News Corp, BHP, and Rio Tinto all do this due to the laws in the U.S. and the U.K. Can we please look at doing the same in 2022, particularly given our board is so small and we are attempting to build a business in the U.S. which mandates annual elections?
We'll take that question on notice. I think when we've achieved the market cap of the size of News Corp and BHP, I'm sure it'll become a priority for ourselves.
We have two famously pioneering Matts involved with BetMakers. Could Matthew Davey comment on his personal history with Matthew Tripp, and why isn't Matthew Tripp on the board? As potentially the biggest shareholder in BetMakers with more to come, please, can the Chair please summarize the board representation situation and approach with the Tripp interests?
Nick, I'm happy to take that.
Sure. I've worked with Matthew Tripp over a number of years. I first met him when I owned a company called OpenBet, which provided a lot of the sports betting technology for sports betting operators around the world. He had a fabulous reputation then as being one of the most astute operators in the market. He maintains that reputation, and the board is incredibly lucky to have him as an advisor to the board. In terms of the board construction, you know, we're obviously following corporate governance and a focus on board diversity, which Nick referenced earlier. I think that's the direction in which the board is moving towards. We maintain all of the benefits of his great background, reputation, and intellectual capacity as an advisor to the company. Back to you, Nick.
Thank you. I think that covers the question in terms of summarizing the board representation situation. I won't pursue that any further. Charly?
Sure. A couple more. "Does Matthew Tripp have any deals in the pipeline or working on any deals seeking to access his incentive shares?
I'm sure Matt's always working on a number of deals if I read what happens in the press. It's not for us to disclose.
Okay. We'll just finalize the last one. "When disclosing the outcome of all resolutions today, will the Chair and CEO support the idea of publicly disclosing how many shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to what happened to the scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions, and was a disclosure issue recently adopted by Metcash and Southern Cross Media after their AGMs.
Charly, we'll discuss that. We'll take that on notice and discuss that, between you, me, and Todd.
Okay. There's a few other questions which might have already been addressed in previous responses. I think we can move on, and we can get back to shareholders on individual questions if there's any information that can be communicated.
Thanks very much. Charly, you've read out the questions. As there's no further questions, can we move on to the first resolution?
Yes, sure. We were just discussing the financial report. Moving on to resolution one now.
The first resolution on the agenda today is a non-binding advisory vote for the adoption of the remuneration report for the financial year ended June 30th 2021. The remuneration report is contained in the annual report, which is available on the company's website. It includes details of the company's policy on remuneration of directors and executives, a discussion of the relationship between the policy and the company's performance, and details of the performance conditions associated with the remuneration of the CEO and other executives. As stated in the notice of meeting, this is an advisory and non-binding resolution, although the board will take the discussion on this resolution into account when considering the future remuneration arrangements of the company. Details of the resolution are set out in the notice of meeting. The board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of the resolution.
If you have any questions on this item and have not yet submitted it using the chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your question in the chat box now. Charly, as Company Secretary, can you please read out any questions regarding Resolution one?
We haven't received any questions regarding resolution one.
As there are no questions, I now draw your attention to the resolution and the proxies received on the screen. Resolution two. Resolution two on the agenda today is the re-election of Mr. Simon Dulhunty. Details of Simon's qualification and experience are set out in the notice of meeting in the company's annual report. Details of this resolution are set out in the notice of meeting. The board, other than Simon, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. If you have a question on this item and have not yet submitted it using the chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your question in the chat box now. Charly, as Company Secretary, can you please read out any questions received during resolution two?
We haven't received any questions on this item.
As there are no questions, I now draw your attention to the resolution and the proxies received on the screen. Thanks. Resolution three. Resolution three on the agenda seeks shareholder approval to increase the non-executive directors remuneration pool to AUD 850,000 per annum. Details of this resolution are set out in the notice of meeting. If you have a question on this item and have not yet submitted it using the chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your answer in the chat box now. Charly, as Company Secretary, can you please read out any questions received regarding Resolution three?
We haven't received any questions regarding resolution three.
Thank you. As there are no questions, I now draw your attention to the resolution and the proxies received on the screen. Resolution four. Resolution four seeks shareholder approval to ratify the prior issue and allotment of 443,262 FormCruncher shares under ASX Listing Rule 7.1. Details of this resolution are set out in the notice of meeting. The board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. If you have a question on this item and have not yet submitted it using the chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your question in the chat box now. Charliy, can you please read out any questions regarding resolution four?
We haven't received any questions regarding resolution four.
As there are no questions, I now draw your attention to the resolution and the proxies received on the screen. Resolution five. The final resolution seeks shareholder approval to modify the company's long-term incentive plan, including the adoption of the additional subplans. Details of this resolution are set out in the notice of meeting. The board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. If you have a question on this item and have not yet submitted it using chat box, please tap on the question icon on your screen and type your question in the chat box now. Charly, are there any questions? Can you please read out any questions re resolution five?
We haven't received any questions regarding Resolution 5.
As there are no questions, I draw your attention to the resolution and the proxies received on the screen. Other business. The final item on the agenda today is any other business that may legally be brought before the meeting. Are there matters to be brought forward?
Nick, we have received a couple of questions that came through outside of the resolutions that will be considered, at the time. I'll put those to you now. The first one was: Which of the proxy advisors recommended against the fee rise for the NEDs? What is the plan in terms of actually lifting the fees to be paid?
We've already taken it. We've already explained our position in terms of proxy advisors and the details and their recommendations. As I said, if shareholders wish to access those insights of the proxy advisors, then they'll need to subscribe to their services. In terms of the fee rise, what is the plan? I think the plan was to increase the size of the board, as well as to address the benchmarking of our fees that was done by an independent firm.
Both of which the concept of which is to increase the board size to what is really a you know a standard for ASX 300 companies, as well as addressing the skills that we've identified, the additional skills that we've identified that's required for our board. These skills basically are in the area of public policy, regulatory policy, as well as accounting and audit.
Thanks, Nick. We've also received a question regarding: Can the Chair please comment on what caused the biggest protest votes on both the REM report and the NED fee rise? Will changes be made in response to this?
Sure. First and foremost, we put out an explanation the other day in terms of an announcement to in terms of what we would be doing into the future. The main issues raised and concerns raised with us on the REM report was disclosure in terms of the way we outline and the clarity in which we were describing in detail the remuneration framework. We've accepted that criticism and concern, and we will be addressing that in terms of the way we lay out and explain our REM framework into the future.
We'll be engaging some external assistant to help us outline those with greater clarity and disclosure. In terms of the NED fee rise, I think there was no real issue with that in terms of quantum, more about what we were dealing with, how we were going to deal with diversity and the size of the board, including independence of the committees, which again, I think we've outlined in terms of our supplementary announcement.
Last question we've received is: Are the Waterhouse family involved with the company in any way other than being a major shareholder?
Todd, do you want to outline the MTS involvement?
Yeah. We've as flagged to the market previously, we've got a commercial arrangement in place with Tom Waterhouse and his related entities. Tom has helped us create what we call the MTS division of the business, Managed Trading Services. We've had a huge success in that division of the business in particular over the last 12-18 months. We're really happy with the structure of the deal. But as far as in regards to any external to that, no, there's no other involvement with the Waterhouse family other than our commercial deal that we've got with Tom.
Thanks, Todd.
Nick, that's all the questions that we've received so far.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our discussion on items of the business before the annual general meeting today. In a few minutes, I will close the voting system. Please ensure that you have cast your vote on all resolutions. I will now pause to allow you time to finalize those votes. I declare the voting now closed. After the votes on the resolutions have been counted and reviewed, the results of the poll will be announced on the ASX via an ASX announcement. I now declare this annual general meeting closed. Thank you all for your attendance at this meeting and your interest in the company. On behalf of the board, we look forward to your continued support in the coming year. Thank you.