Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting will please come to order. I am Lawrence F. Metz, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Maiden Holdings. With me is Patrick J. Haveron, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Welcome to our 2021 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, notice of which was mailed on or about April 5, 2021, to all common shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 15, 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are hosting this meeting virtually through this webcast. We would also like to thank our employees for ensuring that our business and operations continued with little interruption during this challenging time. I will now report as to the due mailing of notice of the shareholders of the company. I'm in possession of a copy of the notice of the meeting, together with an affidavit duly signed and sworn to by Dominic Vaca of American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as to the due mailing on April 5, 2021, of the notice of meeting, proxy statement, form of proxy, reply envelope, and Form 10-K to each shareholder of record at the close of business on March 15, 2021, as shown on the list of shareholders prepared and certified by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company. I order that a copy of the notice and the affidavit as to the due mailing therefore be filed with the records of the company for attachment to the minutes of this meeting. There is before the meeting a complete list of the shareholders of the company as of the close of business on March 15, 2021, which is the record date set by the board of directors for shareholders entitled to notice of and to vote at the meeting. According to the list of shareholders, which has been certified as correct by American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the company's transfer agent, 87,138,453 common shares are eligible to be voted. The list has been available for 10 days before the meeting for examination by any shareholder. Mr. Metz has been appointed to act as inspector for this meeting. I will ask Mr. Metz to confirm that he has a copy of the oath taken and subscribed by the inspector. I confirm that I am in possession of a copy of the oath of the inspector. I order that the oath submitted by the inspector be filed with the records of the company for attachment to the minutes of the meeting. It is now in order to ascertain whether the holders of a sufficient number of shares of each of the common shares of the company were voted by proxy to constitute a quorum. The inspector advises that there were voted by proxy the holders of in excess of 50% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company, representing a quorum for the transaction of business at this meeting. The holders of a majority of the outstanding common shares of the company, having been voted by proxy for this meeting, I hereby affirm there is a quorum for the transaction of business. We will now present each of the three proposals that called for the vote by the common shareholders of the company. The first matter is the election of nine directors of the company, each to hold office until the next annual general meeting of shareholders and until his or her successor is elected and qualified. The board of directors, upon unanimous recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, nominated the following individuals for election as directors at this meeting. Holly L. Blanchard, Patrick J. Haveron, Simcha G. Lyons, Lawrence F. Metz, Raymond M. Neff, Yehuda L. Neuberger, Steven H. Nigro, Keith A. Thomas, and Barry D. Zyskind. Qualifying preferred shareholders did not nominate any directors as required, and as a result, Paul S. Giordano and Claude LeBlanc are not standing for reelection, and we thank them for their service. The second matter is a non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation of certain of our executive officers. The third matter is for the ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year. The voting was closed as of the close of business yesterday, and I now request the inspector to report on the results of the voting. Mr. Metz, is the report of the inspector ready? Yes. The inspector has tabulated the votes cast for the election of directors and finds that shareholders holding in excess of a majority of the common shares of the company voted by proxy for the election of Holly L. Blanchard, Patrick J. Haveron, Simcha G. Lyons, Lawrence F. Metz, Raymond M. Neff, Yehuda L. Neuberger, Steven H. Nigro, Keith A. Thomas, and Barry D. Zyskind as directors of the company. The tabulated votes also find that the shareholders holding in excess of a majority of the common shares voted by proxy as an advisory vote on a non-binding resolution to approve the compensation of certain of our executive officers. The tabulated votes also find that shareholders holding in excess of the majority of the common shares voted by proxy for ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year. You have heard the inspector's report. I hereby declare the nine persons nominated have been duly elected directors of the company, that the advisory non-binding vote approved executive compensation, and that Ernst & Young LLP has been ratified as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year. There is no other business to come before the meeting. Therefore, the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.
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