A majority of shareholders in Toshiba Corp. approved a proposal at an extraordinary meeting on Thursday that an investigation be launched into whether the general stockholders' meeting held in July was fairly conducted.

The extraordinary shareholders' meeting was convened at the request of Effissimo Capital Management Pte. Ltd. and Chinook Holdings Ltd.

Effissimo, which owns a 9.9 percent stake in Toshiba, wants the new investigation to be conducted by lawyers it nominated.

At the general shareholders' meeting last year, a small portion of voting forms, equivalent to 1.3 percent of the total ballot, were deemed invalid due to failures of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, which handled the mail-in votes on behalf of Toshiba.

Toshiba opposed the proposal from Effissimo, saying the voting results were not affected by the error.

However, Thursday's decision means three lawyers designated by the Singapore-based fund will probe the legitimacy of the general meeting last year.

It is very rare that a shareholder's proposal is approved at a stockholders' meeting for a listed Japanese company.

Meanwhile, Chinook's proposal that all operating cash flow through March 2026 be provided to shareholders through dividends or the buyback of shares was voted down.

==Kyodo

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