Form with which the secretary of a corporation notifies all necessary parties of the date, time, and place of the annual stockholder's meeting.
Form with which the secretary of a corporation notifies all necessary parties of the date, time, and place of the annual stockholder's meeting.
Both California Corporations and California S-Corps are required to hold an annual meeting for shareholders. These meetings are pivotal for fostering transparency, discussing business strategy, and making essential corporate decisions.
A general meeting is a members' meeting, but certain non-members may also be entitled to attend. It's important to check the articles of association and any shareholders' agreement to determine the rules and restrictions for attending general meetings.
A General Meeting is simply a meeting of shareholders and 21 days' notice must be given to shareholders, but this can be reduced to 14 days, or increased to 28 days, in certain situations.
Directors who fail to follow the AGM requirements can be prosecuted in court, and may also face disqualification or debarment from being a director. In addition, ACRA can impose composition fines on companies that do not hold the required AGMs.
All shareholders must be notified of the format, date, time, and place of the meeting. How far in advance notices should be distributed may depend on your state, but generally, they should be sent out more than 10 days prior to the meeting, but less than 60 days.
Shareholders who cannot attend the meeting in person are encouraged to vote by proxy, which can be done online or by filling out and mailing a form.
If your business is set up and registered as a Corporation, you're required by law to hold an annual shareholder meeting and to document the meeting with minutes.
But to keep the liability shield in place, corporations must follow certain formalities—such as holding and documenting an annual meeting. Failure to hold annual meetings could allow creditors to “pierce the corporate veil” to pursue shareholders' personal assets to satisfy the business's debts.