Bill Text: CA AB2238 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Shareholder: rights of inspection.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-24 - Read first time. [AB2238 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2238-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2238 INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Allen FEBRUARY 21, 2014 An act to amend Section 1600 of the Corporations Code, relating to corporations. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2238, as introduced, Allen. Shareholder: rights of inspection. Existing law, the General Corporation Law, provides for the regulation of corporations. Existing law, among other things, requires the record of shareholders to be open to inspection and copying by any shareholder or holder of a voting trust certificate at any time during usual business hours upon written demand on the corporation for a specified purpose. This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 1600 of the Corporations Code is amended to read: 1600. (a) A shareholder or shareholders holding at least 5 percent in the aggregate of the outstanding voting shares of a corporation or who hold at least 1 percent of those voting shares and have filed a Schedule 14A with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (or in case the corporation is a bank the deposits of which are insured in accordance with the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, have filed a Form F-6 with the appropriate federal bank regulatory agency) shall have an absolute right to do either or both of the following:(1) inspect and(1) Inspect and copy the record of shareholders' names and addresses and shareholdings during usual business hours upon five business days' prior written demand upon thecorporation, or (2) obtain fromcorporation. (2) Obtain from the transfer agent for the corporation, upon written demand and upon the tender of its usual charges for such a list (the amount of which charges shall be stated to the shareholder by the transfer agent upon request), a list of the shareholders' names and addresses, who are entitled to vote for the election of directors, and their shareholdings, as of the most recent record date for which it has been compiled or as of a date specified by the shareholder subsequent to the date of demand. The list shall be made available on or before the later of five business days after the demand is received or the date specified therein as the date as of which the list is to be compiled. A corporation shall have the responsibility to cause its transfer agent to comply with this subdivision. (b) Any delay by the corporation or the transfer agent in complying with a demand under subdivision (a) beyond the time limits specified therein shall give the shareholder or shareholders properly making the demand a right to obtain from the superior court, upon the filing of a verified complaint in the proper county and after a hearing, notice of which shall be given tosuchthose persons and insucha manner as the court may direct, an order postponing any shareholders' meeting previously noticed for a period equal to the period ofsuchthis delay.SuchThis right shall be in addition to any other legal or equitable remedies to which the shareholder may be entitled. (c) The record of shareholders shall also be open to inspection and copying by any shareholder or holder of a voting trust certificate at any time during usual business hours upon written demand on the corporation, for a purpose reasonably related tosuchthat holder's interests as a shareholder or holder of a voting trust certificate. (d) Any inspection and copying under this section may be made in person or by agent or attorney. The rights provided in this section may not be limited by the articles or bylaws. This section applies to any domestic corporation and to any foreign corporation having its principal executive office in this state or customarily holding meetings of its board in this state.