Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the board, I would like to welcome you to the CNH Industrial NV Annual General Meeting of shareholders. As Mr. Leo W. Houle, the senior non-executive director, is unable to attend the meeting because of a scheduling conflict, the board has appointed me to chair the meeting in accordance with Article 19, paragraph 1 of the Articles of Association. Mr. Scott Wine, Chief Executive Officer of the company, is attending this meeting through a simultaneous remote connection. I note that also several members of the company's Board of Directors are attending this meeting remotely. The external auditor, Mr. Loonen, Ernst & Young Accountants LLP, is present through a simultaneous remote connection. Regarding his presence, I would like to inform you that, for the purpose of the AGM, CNH Industrial NV has temporarily released the obligation of Ernst & Young Accountants LLP to observe confidentiality.
The external auditor has the obligation to correct any materially incorrect statements and/or announcements in relation to the financial statements or the independent auditor's report. He will ask to correct any material misstatement made during the AGM and/or before the minutes of the meeting are distributed if necessity arises. Mr. Dirk-Jan Smit of Freshfields, civil law notary of the company, is remotely present. He is the secretary of this meeting and will prepare notarial minutes of this meeting. Mr. Michael Going, the company secretary, is also assisting this meeting remotely. The meeting will be held in English. The convening notice of the meeting was published on the company's website on March 3rd, 2021, and this meeting was convened in accordance with the legal and statutory requirements. The use of audio and video recording devices by shareholders is not allowed.
The organization of this AGM complies with the Dutch emergency legislation allowing virtual meetings. As explained in the convening notice, to protect the health and safety of all participants, shareholders are not allowed to attend this meeting in person. Instead, to mitigate restrictions connected to the COVID-19 outbreak, the company has given shareholders the opportunity to follow this AGM through a webcast that is being broadcast live on CNH Industrial's website. I would therefore, on behalf of the Board of Directors and of the company, like to welcome everyone who has joined this meeting through our webcast. To facilitate as much interaction as possible while observing the applicable restrictions, we gave our shareholders the opportunity to submit written questions on our agenda items, and we set a deadline for these submissions of April 12th, 2021, at 5:30 P.M. CEST.
The instructions for how to do this were included in the convening notice and published on CNH Industrial's website. We had planned to address these questions verbally at the end of the relevant agenda items, and where appropriate, we would have combined questions. We would also have given shareholders who had properly submitted questions in advance the opportunity to ask follow-up questions via email if such questions were related to the answers received. The company has received various questions from one shareholder who did not comply with the instructions set out in the meeting notice. Many of those questions are either irrelevant or not pertaining to any of today's agenda items, or they have already been covered by disclosures made in the 2020 annual report, including the 2020 Remuneration Report, the 2020 Sustainability Report, and the policies publicly available on our corporate website.
The company has decided to address the remaining questions during this AGM, even though they were not submitted as mandated by the company's instructions. The answers provided, however, will not qualify for any follow-up questions. The voting results will be displayed at the end of each voting item and will be published on the company's website after the meeting in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Dear shareholders, during 2020, CNH Industrial faced an unprecedented set of business challenges as it navigated its way through COVID-19. It has been the most challenging environment, socially, economically, and scientifically, in living memory. Above all, I am conscious of the human cost of this pandemic, and I want to take this moment to express my sympathy and that of all of my colleagues at CNH Industrial to anyone who has been personally affected during this period.
Within CNH Industrial, we have responded to the rapidly changing environment by establishing in early 2020 a task force that was focused on protecting our employees, dealers, suppliers, and the continuity of our business. This group worked closely with national health authorities to develop and implement new health and safety protocols across all our workspaces. In doing this, we were able to use our early experience of dealing with the pandemic in China. We also extended our remote working program to cover as many employees as possible. Alongside making these changes to protect our employees, we also worked closely with our dealers and suppliers to help them through this challenging period, knowing that our company would only be successful in the future if we maintained a strong and supportive network with our business partners.
We also maintained a firm grip on our costs, and we very tightly managed our cash flow and our liquidity levels. We expect these issues to remain priorities during 2021, despite the reassuring progress that many countries are making in vaccinating their populations. CNH Industrial delivered solid results in 2020 thanks to the actions of its employees, suppliers, and dealers. Despite the challenges, we continue to invest in new technologies, particularly those relating to energy transition and digital enablement, including precision farming. We ended the year with strong financial results and having tackled a number of business challenges, including reducing channel inventory, decreasing our cost base, and starting to turn around our construction business. We remain focused on executing our strategy and enter 2021 ready to continue developing and supplying products that enable our customers to feed, build, power, and transport goods across the globe.
It is important to note that 2020 was not just about financial results. In addition to facing these business challenges, we also addressed issues that, though not financial, are also important for our company. This included re-emphasizing our commitment to diversity and inclusion, which is critical, not least, to ensuring that we attract and retain the most talented people. In doing this, among other things, we made promoting diversity a target for every member of our senior leadership team. In 2020, we were also proud to become industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for the 10th consecutive year. We also launched a $2 million solidarity fund to support local communities impacted by COVID-19. 2020 was a year of considerable challenges for our company. I am, however, proud of how we responded to it.
The work that we did not only meant that we closed the year with solid financial results. It also meant that we are entering 2021 ready to enhance our commitment to our customers and forge an increasingly profitable future under our new CEO, Scott Wine. I was delighted to welcome Scott to CNH Industrial in January, and he has been working with our senior leadership team to lay out some of the themes for the future of our company, including reinforcing the importance of our dealers and customers and accelerating our investment in innovation and digitalization. In closing, I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for your support through 2020 and for your continuing support as we look forward to a future in which we continue to generate progressive returns and long-term value.
Before we review the business and financial results for 2020, I would like to say that the CNH Industrial Group consolidated financial results being discussed with you today were prepared in accordance with IFRS accounting standards and used the U.S. dollar as the reporting currency. Please note that, as required by Dutch law, we have also prepared statutory financial statements of our parent company, CNH Industrial NV. Fiscal 2020 was a year of many firsts for the company, with maybe the most meaningful being how we managed the impact of COVID-19. For the first time in our company's history, the year-end industrial activities net financial position was positive $297 million. This demonstrates both the effectiveness of our cost containment and cash preservation actions and the significant reduction that we were able to achieve in our working capital. Our financial position remains robust, with a strong balance sheet and healthy liquidity.
During 2020, we invested in new technologies, embraced new ways of working, and positioned the company for strong, profitable growth. We entered 2021 in a strong position, ready to support our customers and dealers and deliver an increasingly profitable future. Let's now move to the full year 2020 highlights. In 2020, we delivered consolidated revenues of $26 billion. Across the year, we made a net loss of $695 million, which translates into a diluted loss per share of $0.55. This was a result of the impact of the pandemic, combined with non-cash impairments and other one-off items in the first half of the year. These impairments and non-cash items were partially offset by the company's strong position performance in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter.
If you exclude impairments and non-cash items, as well as the impact of other non-recurring items, our net result for 2020 would have been a profit of $378 million. Free cash flow of industrial activities was at $2 billion, contributing to the positive net financial position of $297 million at year-end. I will now move to our global net revenues of industrial activities and the split by segment. Net revenues of industrial activities were $24.3 billion in 2020, a 7.2% decrease compared to the prior year, or 4.9% on a constant currency basis. This was due to the significant adverse impact of COVID-19 on end markets and actions that we took to lower inventory levels, particularly in the first half of the year. Net revenues for agriculture were $10.9 billion in 2020. This was flat compared to 2019, or up 3.4% on a constant currency basis.
As favorable price realization in all regions and higher volumes in the rest of the world were offset by lower volumes in North America and in Europe due to the impact of COVID-19 in the first half of the year. For construction, net revenues were $2.1 billion in 2020. This was down 21.6% compared to 2019, or down 18.7% on a constant currency basis, as a result of weaker market conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly in the first half of the year, channel inventory destocking actions, and a weaker pricing environment, primarily in North America. Commercial and specialty vehicles net revenues were $9.4 billion in 2020. This was down 9.8% compared to 2019, or down 8.7% on a constant currency basis, primarily driven by the significant market slowdown in Europe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the first half of the year.
Finally, for powertrain, net revenues were $3.6 billion in 2020, down 11.7% compared to 2019, or down 11.5% on a constant currency basis. This was due to a lower sales volume, mainly in Europe, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Powertrain sales to external customers accounted for 52% of total net revenues compared to 51% in 2019. I will now move on to slide nine, which shows our adjusted EBIT performance for the year. As you can see here, adjusted EBIT for industrial activities was $416 million, down from $1.4 billion in 2019. This was impacted by industry demand disruptions, negative absorption caused by destocking actions, and plant shutdowns in the first half, partially offset by cost containment measures. Agriculture adjusted EBIT was $856 million in 2020, a $44 million decrease compared to 2019.
Positive price realization, reduced selling, general and administrative expenses, and improved income from non-consolidated joint ventures were offset by unfavorable market and mix and negative fixed cost absorption due to plant shutdowns in the first half of the year. Alongside this, Adjusted EBIT margin decreased to 7.8%. In construction, Adjusted EBIT loss was $193 million in 2020 compared to $50 million profit in 2019. This decrease was driven by lower volume, negative fixed cost absorption due to plant shutdowns in the first half of the year, destocking actions, and unfavorable price realization impacted by retail program enhancements in response to the COVID-19 market conditions, partially offset by cost containment actions. Commercial and specialty vehicles Adjusted EBIT loss was $169 million in 2020 compared to a $188 million profit in 2019.
This was driven by decreased volumes and the negative impact of fixed cost absorption due to plant shutdowns in the first half of the year, partially offset by positive price realization and cost containment actions. Finally, adjusted EBIT for powertrain was $223 million in 2020, a $139 million decrease compared to 2019. This was mainly due to unfavorable volume, partially offset by purchasing efficiencies, lower costs for regulatory programs, and cost containment actions. Adjusted EBIT was 6.9%, down 270 basis points compared to 2019. Moving on to slide 10 and our financial services business. This segment continued to perform relatively well during 2020. Financial services reported net revenues of $1.8 billion in 2020, down 9.5% compared to 2019.
This was down 5.4% on a constant currency basis due to lower average portfolios in North America and Europe, negative impact from currency translation, and lower used equipment sales, partially offset by a higher average portfolio in South America. Net income was $288 million, a decrease of $87 million compared to 2019. This was mainly due to higher risk costs and lower average portfolios in North America and Europe, partially offset by higher average portfolios in South America. Delinquencies continued to improve throughout the year and reached a new historic all-time low for CNH Industrial at 2.1% of our portfolio by the end of 2020. Despite this low delinquency rate, however, financial services took the precaution of booking additional credit risk provisions in the year in case the economic consequences of the pandemic had a delayed impact on some of our customers' ability to service debt.
Despite the challenges that we faced in 2020, we continued to develop our digital and precision farming offerings. We structure these into three parts: Field, Fleet, and Farm. Field is classic precision farming in which we focus on optimizing yield and input costs to maximize profitability for our growers. In 2020, we launched 74 new field features. These bring many new benefits for our customers, including further improvements in in-field data collection. When integrated alongside our automatic end-of-row turn and sequence automation, which is controlled through our award-winning display and armrest, this increases both ease of use and data accuracy for our customers. Fleet is focused on improving the productivity of our customers' machines, and our connected fleet has more than doubled year over year. We added 21 new features to our fleet solution last year and expect to add over 30 more in 2021.
Some of these features include enhanced vehicle connectivity, remote diagnostics and servicing, and digital vehicle management by dealers to enable them better to anticipate and to avoid machine downtime issues. Lastly, Farm helps farmers to enhance their profitability by combining a range of agronomic information, including soil, weather, and crop data. This delivers seamless visualization and analysis of these data layers to enable our customers to make better farm management decisions. They can also customize data in the field using cloud sharing. This year, we have added 27 new features to our Farm portfolio and plan to increase this by an additional 40 this year. Lastly, we continue to invest in our AGXTEND portfolio, which brings some of the newest and most innovative precision farming solutions to our customers. In 2020, we added 12 new offerings to this portfolio, and additional innovations will be launched in the near future.
Our next generation farming solution, co-designed by our customer and product teams, is improving the performance of our precision farming features, which include auto guidance, end-of-row turns, section control, and more, while making them far easier to use. Take rates for the precision farming for the precision technology features on our large machines are close to 100%. We are now, however, using this technology across all our machine platforms, including our smaller tractors, where current take rates are considerably lower. Our updated technology solutions are an excellent example of our customer-focused innovation, and they are a key driver of margin expansion. On slide 12, I now want to turn to our heavy-duty truck market and share with you some of the progress we have made on our next generation and alternative propulsion vehicles.
Iveco continues to be recognized as the European leader in delivering sustainable transport solutions across its product range, thanks to the continuing rollout and market demand for CNG and LNG technologies. In the last quarter of 2020, Iveco increased its European market share in heavy-duty trucks by 190 basis points compared to the same period in 2019. Its share has increased across all European countries. In particular, we continue to be very strong in natural gas trucks, in which we retained a 60% market share at year-end. Alongside this work on new technologies within our existing product ranges, Iveco has also continued to develop its partnership with Nikola Corporation. During 2020, prototype testing began at our Ulm site in Germany, and this will continue in parallel both in Ulm and in Nikola's facility in Arizona as we go through 2021.
We will begin road testing in the coming months once we have finished validating critical systems. Our award-winning Iveco S-Way will be the backbone for both the battery electric Nikola Tre truck, which is scheduled to enter production in the last quarter of 2021, and the fuel cell hydrogen trucks that are scheduled to enter production at the end of 2023. Sustainability is at the heart of our strategic decision-making processes, and it underlines the day-to-day activities of our approximately 64,000 employees. We are proud of the progress we have made and delighted that this was recognized when we were confirmed industry leader for the 10th consecutive year in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices World and Europe.
We were also one of the 273 companies chosen out of the 10,000 to disclose their sustainability results to be on CDP's Climate Change A List, and we also scored an A- in the CDP's Water Security Program. As a company, we are also strongly connected to the communities in which we operate. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, last year, we created a $2 million solidarity fund to support individuals and communities impacted by COVID-19. We used this fund to finance 83 projects across the world that provided food, supported local health measures, and enabled education. This included, for example, supplying ambulances in Europe and supporting community education programs in Brazil. As I also mentioned earlier, in 2020, we increased our focus on diversity through a range of initiatives, including a commitment to considering diverse candidates for all senior appointments and a new mentoring program for diverse colleagues.
We also increased the number of women involved in our leadership initiatives by 40% compared to 2019. This will remain a focus in the coming years, as we know there is much more that we need to do to become a truly inclusive and diverse company. We are proud of all the accolades and the recognition that I have mentioned here, but as well as others I have not included. But most of all, we are proud of the tangible progress we are making to be a better company for all our stakeholders. I will now turn this call over to Scott.
Thank you, Suzanne, both for your comments and, much more importantly, for bringing me to CNH Industrial. I'm excited to participate in my first general meeting and want to use this venue to share why I'm so optimistic about our future and our plans to become a truly great company. While evaluating CNH Industrial prior to joining the company, numerous factors appealed to me. The three pillars of success, product, brand, and distribution, are identical to the business model I worked with for the past 12 years. The global reach of our businesses and brands offers tremendous opportunity and, at the same time, significant complexity, and the challenge of delivering optimal performance within that framework was alluring. Having grown up in the agrarian part of Virginia, I admire the fundamental noble work our agricultural customers do, so the idea of serving them and their kindred spirits in construction and trucking was very compelling.
I recognized and felt confident I could build upon CNH Industrial's strong brands and commensurately devout customer loyalty. But mostly, I was drawn by the exciting challenge of enhancing the performance of our agricultural and construction business while executing the separation of our commercial vehicle business. In my first 100 days, I've had the good fortune to speak with numerous employees and dealers, and these conversations have confirmed my early impressions. I have witnessed the CNH Industrial team's incredible passion and wisdom, tireless work ethic, and devotion to our customers. I've learned more about the strength of our product portfolio and our ongoing efforts to broaden its scope and improve its performance. I've gained a deeper appreciation for our diverse employees in most every part of the world and the pride they feel in our heritage and brands.
And overall, I've acquired a solid understanding of our potential and the immense opportunities we must seize in order to realize it. To do so, we are focusing on four key priorities that define how we work. We will ensure that safety and integrity are paramount in all that we do. We will enhance our customer-first mindset to drive brand loyalty and stimulate innovation. We will create an agile and efficient business to steadily and profitably gain market share in each of our businesses. And we will also build on our environmental stewardship, diversity, and inclusive leadership. And there are five priorities on what we must accomplish as well. First, we must execute the spinoff of Iveco in our on-road business to create two customer-focused businesses with very bright futures. We must accelerate digital and precision deployment for product dealers and customers with a mindset to jump the curve.
We must continue our construction turnaround, which has been very well executed, and portfolio improvement to get this business to a high single EBIT margin performance that we would find acceptable. We must fuel alternative powertrain development to lead our industries in sustainability. And we must drive quality, productivity, and strategic sourcing to generate significant gross margin expansion. Accomplishing these goals requires a rigorous framework that ensures we develop results-oriented processes to drive progress, accurately track development, and where necessary, implement countermeasures. We recently trained our senior leaders in the proven goal deployment process, which is very similar to Hoshin Kanri, which we will use to turn our strategic priorities into sustainable competitive advantages. Our senior leadership team is up for the challenge, and we are fortunate to have strong demand in our end markets to start 2021.
Rising demand is good for business, but it is adding pressure to our supply chain, requiring diligent coordination to keep our factories flowing for our customers. This need is heightened by COVID-19, occasionally still affecting our plants and suppliers. Although with vaccine rollouts ramping up around the world, we look forward to moving beyond the pandemic later this year, but even once COVID pressures ease, we will remain vigilant about keeping our teammates safe. We are in a very competitive industry with a myriad of technological changes impacting the way our customers work and operate. We are investing heavily to develop the digital tools, precision farming, construction functionality, and alternative powertrain solutions they demand, with the intention of matching the competition where necessary and leading the industry where possible. Doing this successfully will involve both organic and inorganic resources, and we are pushing aggressively to accelerate this vital initiative.
There's much work to be done, but I'm incredibly confident in this team's passion, determination, and ability to execute. Combine that with an experienced and engaged Board of Directors offering their wisdom and strategic oversight, and our people certainly constitute a true competitive advantage. Our history is rich with moments of greatness, but the journey we are undertaking is quite simply to become and remain a great company for all of our stakeholders. I look forward to sharing our progress over the years to come. And with that, I will turn it back over to Suzanne for closing comments.
Thank you, Scott. In conclusion, let me extend my appreciation to all of our more than 64,000 employees for putting their trust in our leadership and for working hard to realize so many milestones. I would also like to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support. As just highlighted by Scott, we remain committed to increasing our customer focus and maximizing shareholder value through the spin off of our on-highway activities as soon as possible, and our team is working hard to prepare for this. Our strong balance sheet makes our company very stable. It also enables us to make prudent investments to strengthen key aspects of our products, brands, and distribution network to enhance our competitive positioning.
Finally, I would like to remind you that CNH Industrial manages its operations, assesses its performance, and makes decisions about the allocation of resources based on financial results prepared only in accordance with US GAAP. The full year 2021 guidance, as disclosed in the fourth quarter, was prepared under US GAAP, as was the full year 2020 earnings release issued on February 3rd, 2021, and included in the EU annual report. We now come to the formal business of the meeting, where we discuss and vote on the resolutions set out in the agenda for the meeting. As you are aware, no votes can be cast during this meeting. Shareholders were given the opportunity to exercise their voting rights prior to the meeting via proxy or web procedure.
The information relating to the attendance list and the information regarding the number of votes cast at this meeting are as follows. As at the record date, the 28th day prior to the date of this Annual General Meeting, the company had a total of 1,760,874,472 issued shares. It also had a total of 1,725,485,583 voting rights. No votes were cast for any of the shares held by the company. 82.86% of all outstanding shares in the issued capital of the company, as at the record date, were represented for this meeting. The total number of voting rights at this meeting, therefore, amounts to 1,429,793,348. Votes abstained are not calculated as part of the votes cast. Only votes submitted before 11:00 P.M. CEST on Thursday, April 8, 2021, were considered when calculating the voting results. I now turn to item two of the meeting agenda.
The 2020 annual report was available on the company's website and at the company's principal office on March 3, 2021, the official day when this meeting was convened. I will spend a few moments providing a summary and an explanation of the four sub-items of agenda item two. Sub-item 2A concerns the policy on additions to reserves and on dividends. This is a discussion item only. Subject to the adoption of the 2020 annual financial statements by the general meeting of shareholders in accordance with Article 22 of the Articles of Association of the Company, and after the allocation of the relevant amount to the special voting shares dividend reserve, the board deems appropriate and proposes to shareholders to distribute dividend in cash of EUR 0.11 per outstanding common share. This is approximately EUR 150 million.
Sub-item 2B concerns the adoption of the 2020 annual financial statements, and this is the first voting item. The company's 2020 annual financial statements were approved by the board and audited by Ernst & Young Accountants LLP, who gave an unqualified audit opinion. A representative of the external auditor, Olaf Loonen, is present through a remote connection for this event, so he could answer any questions directly relating to the auditor's report. The board proposes to the shareholders' meeting to adopt the annual financial statements for 2020. Sub-item 2C concerns the determination and distribution of our dividend. This is also a voting item. In respect of the common shares, the board recommends a dividend of EUR 0.11 per outstanding common share, and this means that the 2020 total dividend will amount to approximately EUR 150 million.
The outstanding common shares in the capital of the company will be quoted ex-dividend from April 19, 2021. The record date for the dividend shall be April 20, 2021, on both MTA and New York Stock Exchange. The dividend will be paid on May 5th, 2021. Shareholders holding common shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange on the record date will receive the dividend in US dollars at the official US dollar/euro exchange rate on April 15th, 2021, reported by the European Central Bank. Under sub-item 2D, shareholders are invited to vote on the release of the executive and non-executive directors from liability arising from the performance of their respective duties in 2020. Such release of liability is limited to facts known on the basis of the annual report and its financial statements, statements made during this meeting, and as otherwise disclosed by the company. Now, I request Mr. Going to read out the answers that the company decided to provide to the shareholder I mentioned earlier.
Thank you, Lady Heywood, and good day, shareholders. In response to the above-referenced shareholder questions, I report the following responses. No consultancy services are in place between the company and its independent auditors. The company is a Dutch legal entity and, as such, has no statutory auditor body. The company did not receive IT attacks with ransom requests.
In 2020, no material fines issued by any authority were paid, nor did the company pay any fine for unpaid taxes. Information about treasury shares is available on our website, and in 2020, the company did not make any purchases in this respect. The company has treasury arrangements in any jurisdiction where it operates, in compliance with local legislation and company policies. The company is a Dutch entity and, as such, has no Organismo di Vigilanza. The Italian branch of the company has its supervisory body, and in 2020, the related costs were approximately EUR 15,000. The company did not make any payment or financing to political parties, political foundations, or to any political figure. No director of the company has been involved in any judicial proceedings connected with the discharge of their offices as a company director.
With reference to the major shareholders of CNH Industrial NV, including pension funds, please refer to the website of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets. Considering the company's double listing at the New York Stock Exchange and MTA, shareholders' breakdown by share ownership class or domicile is in constant evolution. Fees paid to the Global Registrar Computershare, in consideration of its services, are in line with market rates. In 2020, the group made no significant acquisitions or disposals of subsidiaries, and therefore, no significant fees were paid. In 2020, no purchases of works of art have been made. Cost containment actions were put in place in all of our segments to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID pandemic. There are no de facto controlled subsidiaries of the company. I will now hand the meeting back to Lady Heywood.
Thank you, Michael. Since the discussion on this agenda item has been concluded, the voting results of the relevant sub-items in agenda item two will now be displayed. Sub-item 2B on the agenda, the adoption of the 2020 annual financial statements. The proposal of sub-item 2B has been approved, and the 2020 annual financial statements have been adopted by the meeting. I now turn to sub-item 2C on the agenda, the determination and distribution of dividend. As displayed, the proposal has been approved. Lastly, item 2D on the agenda to vote, the release from liability of the executive directors and the non-executive directors of the board. As displayed, the proposal has been approved. I'm now going to move to the next item on the meeting agenda. I will now spend a few moments providing a summary and an explanation of this agenda item three.
Item three concerns the application of the remuneration policy in 2020. This is an advisory voting item, and therefore, the voting results will be regarded as such. In the remuneration report for 2021, the company will explain how the advisory vote of the shareholders in this Annual General Meeting of shareholders has been considered. The director's remuneration report for 2020 is disclosed in the company's annual report and complies with the remuneration policy as revised by the shareholder at the Annual General Meeting held in April 2020. The 2020 remuneration report gives an overview of how the remuneration policy has been implemented in 2020. The remuneration report has been prepared in line with the legal disclosure requirements contained in the Dutch Civil Code implementing the European Shareholders' Rights Directive. For further details, please refer to the remuneration of directors section of the 2020 EU annual report.
The discussion on the application of the remuneration policy in 2020 has been concluded, and therefore, the resulting voting results of item three will now be displayed. I establish that the general meeting advises positively in relation to the application of the remuneration policy in 2020. I'm now going to move to the next item on the meeting agenda. Pursuant to Article 13, Paragraph 3 of the Articles of Association of the Company, the term of office of the executive directors and the non-executive directors expires on the day of the first Annual General Meeting of shareholders held in the following calendar year. Each executive director and each non-executive director may be reappointed at any subsequent Annual General Meeting of shareholders.
The non-executive directors believe that in consideration of the size of the company, the complexity and specific characteristics of the segment in which it operates, and the geographic distribution of its business, the Board of Directors should be composed of individuals with skills, experience, and a cultural background, both general and specific, acquired in an international environment, and with deep understanding of macroeconomy and global markets, as well as of the industrial and financial sectors. An appropriate and diversified mix of skills, professional backgrounds, and diversity factors are fundamental to the proper functioning of the board as a collegial body. The composition of the board should also be correctly balanced between executive directors who hold responsibility for the day-to-day management and are vested with executive powers and non-executive directors. In addition, the presence of independent directors is essential in order to protect the interests of all shareholders and third parties.
Ms. Tammenoms Bakker and Mr. Theurillat informed the company that they will not be available for a further reappointment. On behalf of the entire board, I would like to thank Ms. Tammenoms Bakker and Mr. Theurillat for their substantial contribution and valuable service to the company and to all of its stakeholders. On the basis of the proposal made by the Governance and Sustainability Committee, the board proposes that the number of directors be set at nine, a number deemed appropriate for the effective functioning of the board and its committees. Pursuant to the Articles of Association of the Company, the new term of office of the directors will expire on the day of the first annual general meeting of shareholders that will be held in 2022. The directors' remuneration will comply with the company's remuneration policy.
The board believes that the contribution and performance of Suzanne Heywood justifies her reappointment in her role in the company. The board also believes that the appointment of Mr. Scott W. Wine strengthens the expertise and capabilities of the board of directors. Accordingly, the board has recommended to reappoint Suzanne Heywood and appoint Scott W. Wine as executive directors. The board also believes that the contribution and performance of the non-executive directors seeking reappointment continues to be effective and that each demonstrated commitment to their respective roles in the company. Accordingly, the board recommended that Howard W. Buffett, Tufan Erginbilgic, Leo W. Houle, John B. Lanaway, Alessandro Nasi, Lorenzo Simonelli, and Vagn Sørensen be reappointed as non-executive directors. The detailed biographical information concerning each candidate for reappointment or appointment is available on the company's website.
I note that the board considers that the Executive Directors and non-Executive Directors are eligible and that they have each stated their willingness to accept either a reappointment or an appointment. I now ask to display the voting results for each of the resolutions under this agenda item four. Agenda item 4A relates to my own reappointment as Executive Director, so I'm going to ask Mr. Wine to address this agenda item. Can I ask Mr. Going instead to address this agenda item?
I'd be happy to do it, Suzanne Heywood. The voting results for item 4A will now be displayed. The proposal has been approved, and Suzanne Heywood has been reappointed as Executive Director. Congratulations, Suzanne. I'll now pass the meeting back to Suzanne to deal with the remaining agenda items.
Thank you, Michael. Agenda sub-item 4B relates to the appointment of Scott W. Wine as Executive Director. The proposal has been approved, and Scott W. Wine has been appointed as executive director. Agenda sub-item 4C relates to the reappointment of Howard W. Buffett as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Howard W. Buffett has been appointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4D relates to the reappointment of Tufan Erginbilgic as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Tufan Erginbilgic has been reappointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4E relates to the reappointment of Leo W. Houle as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Leo W. Houle has been reappointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4F relates to the reappointment of John B. Lanaway as non-executive director.
The proposal has been approved, and John B. Lanaway has been reappointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4G relates to the reappointment of Alessandro Nasi as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Alessandro Nasi has been reappointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4H relates to the reappointment of Lorenzo Simonelli as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Lorenzo Simonelli has been reappointed as non-executive director. Agenda sub-item 4I relates to the reappointment of Vagn Sørensen as non-executive director. The proposal has been approved, and Vagn Sørensen has been reappointed as non-executive director. Thank you for your confidence in these candidates, and I respectfully congratulate them on their appointment and reappointments. I will now move on to the following items on the meeting agenda. Agenda item five relates to the proposal to reappoint Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the independent auditor of the company.
The Audit Committee has reviewed and considered the performance of the independent auditor in connection with the review and audit of the company's 2020 quarterly and consolidated annual audited financial statements, and based on such review, the Audit Committee has recommended to the board the reappointment of Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the company's independent auditor for the financial year ending December 31st, 2021. The Board of Directors, on the basis of such recommendation, proposes to the shareholders to reappoint Ernst & Young Accountants LLP as the company's independent auditor until the 2022 Annual General Meeting of shareholders. Being that the discussion of this agenda item has concluded, I now ask the voting results be displayed for this item five. This proposal has been approved. I will now move on to the next and final item on the meeting agenda.
Under Dutch law, the company may acquire shares in its own capital only if the board has been vested with the authority to do so by the general meeting of shareholders. On April 16, 2020, the annual general meeting granted to the Board of Directors the authority to acquire common shares in the capital of the company through stock exchange trading on the MTA or the New York Stock Exchange or otherwise for a period of 18 months up to and including October 15th, 2021. Such authorization would expire on October 15th, 2021.
In view of this deadline, the board proposed to the annual general meeting to replace the existing authority with a new authorization to acquire the company's common shares through stock exchange trading on the MTA and the New York Stock Exchange or otherwise for a period of 18 months from April 15th, 2021, and up to and including October 14th, 2022, in accordance with Article 7 of the Articles of Association and in compliance with applicable rules and regulations under the same terms and conditions of the previous authorization. Neither this new authorization nor the launch of any program obliges the company to buy back any common shares. The launch of any new program will be subject to a further resolution of the Board of Directors. Voting results on agenda item six will now be displayed. I note that the proposal has been adopted by the meeting.
I would like to thank you all for casting your votes. Ladies and gentlemen, as there are no further items to discuss or resolve upon, this concludes the formal business of the meeting. I declare the meeting closed. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank you for following this meeting.