Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 330 Robin Bew and Henry Stoever of the NACD
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 119-FCPA Year in Review, Part I
California is a very linguistically diverse state with an estimated 200 plus different languages being spoken. Within my own family, English is not the primary language spoken at home by any of my grandchildren. Yet, the...more
Seven years ago, I addressed the question of whether the board of directors of a California corporation could remove a fellow director...more
The British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) are home to 361,491 active companies as of 31 December 2023. This article considers the reasons for the BVI’s popularity as a jurisdiction to structure international transactions....more
A California corporation is required to keep "minutes of the proceedings of its shareholders, board and committees of the board". Cal. Corp. Code § 1500. Minutes are required to be open to inspection upon the written demand...more
Most legal entities like corporations have officers and directors who, together, run the business. Directors sit on the board of directors and collectively govern and oversee the entity. In contrast, officers generally...more
Section 705(a) of the California Corporations Code provides that no proxy is valid after the expiration of 11 months from the date thereof unless otherwise provided in the proxy. This is a reflection of the fact that proxies...more
Public company directors are under more pressure than ever to oversee enterprise risk, even risk from day-to-day operations, which is normally addressed by management. Egregious failures of upper management to react to red...more
The California General Corporation Law expectedly grants inspection rights to shareholders and directors of California corporations. Unexpectedly (at least to practitioners outside California), the GCL extends those rights...more
Two recent English cases illustrate a strict and a more flexible approach by the courts when considering whether the signing of a legal document has complied with, or is rendered ineffective by non-compliance with, prescribed...more
Nine years ago, I posed the question of whether the California General Corporation Law permits corporations to serve as directors. My answer at the time was "no" because Section 164 of the Corporations Code defines...more
The California Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation Law contemplates three different methods for members to take action: at a meeting, by ballot, and by unanimous written consent. Cal. Corp. Code §§ 7512(a), 7513 & 7516. ...more
There are potentially a number of ramifications to classifying a board member as employee, including whether the corporation may be entitled to obtain a workplace violence restraining order petition pursuant to Section 527.8...more
Section 309 of the California Corporations Code specifies the standard of performance applicable to directors in performing their duties as directors of corporations organized under the California General Corporation Law. ...more
This article considers the key issues a dissenting creditor or shareholder (Dissenting Stakeholder) should consider when challenging a UK Restructuring Plan (Plan) under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006. For convenience,...more
Section 204(a)(10) of the California Corporations Code permits the articles of incorporation to include provisions eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director for monetary damages in an action brought by or...more
On occasion, someone might perceive that they have been improperly appointed as a director or officer of a corporation. If this unfortunate circumstance occur, is there any mechanism for publicly disclaiming the...more
Several years ago, I wrote about the various meanings of "person" in the California Corporations Code. All of the definitions mentioned in that post included corporations within the list of persons. If a corporation is a...more
It is an old rule of English law that the only person who can sue for a wrong done to a company is the company itself. Related to that rule is the principle that an individual shareholder cannot bring a personal claim for a...more
In the face of the rising popularity of stakeholderism, Professor Stephen Bainbridge has determined to "stand athwart the tracks of corporate governance and yell 'stop' as the stakeholder capitalism train pulls out of the...more
In Short - The Situation: Directors in England and Wales owe duties to the companies to which they are appointed (and may face personal liability for breaching such duties). Although the Companies Act 2006 obliges...more
Public company executives have long engaged with their shareholders, especially during proxy season, to share business strategy and address investor concerns. In recent years, public company directors have increasingly...more
The recent "summary judgment" litigation between MetalRNG plc and BriefENERGY Holdings LLP (and others) has provided some further clarity on what "is to be acquired" means for the purposes of the section 190 Companies Act...more
In yesterday's post, I highlighted a new discussion paper arguing that Twitter's leaders through its stakeholders "under the bus" in favor of the interests of the stockholders. According to the authors, stakeholder...more
Shareholder engagement is an imperative for every public company. And with the recent adoption of universal proxy cards, 2023 promises to inject fresh uncertainty into how companies think about and approach that engagement....more
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is pleased to present our 2022 Silicon Valley 150 Corporate Governance Report, which reviews the corporate governance practices and disclosures of the Valley’s largest public companies. ...more