Should I Send Myself Notice of Annual Meetings?
This post is adapted from an OnStartups.com question that I answered. The questioner wondered whether, as sole shareholder of a corporation, he needs to give himself notice of annual shareholder meetings.
Q. If I am the only shareholder in a corporation, do I have to give myself notice of annual meetings? It seems silly that I would have to notify myself, but is this required to stay legal?
When Should We Have our First Annual Meeting of Shareholders?
Having read Annual Meetings: The Basics, a fan of this blog asked the following question: When must we hold our first annual shareholder meeting?
The answer is stated by implication, rather than directly, in applicable statutes (which depend on the state of incorporation).
California Corporations Code Section 600(c) says, in relevant part:
Annual Meetings: The Basics
Sometimes, in an effort to reduce legal fees, clients conduct corporate annual meetings, and prepare minutes, on their own. Regrettably, if they do not know what they are doing, they can make a mess. Here is a quick overview of how to do things right.
Both California (Corporations Code Section 600(b)) and Delaware (General Corporation Law Section 211(b)) require that every corporation hold an annual meeting of its shareholders to elect directors for the coming year. (In the case of a Delaware corporation, however, the directors may be elected by written consent without calling a meeting.) Any other proper business may be transacted at the shareholder meeting.
What Must We Do Regarding Corporate Board Meetings?
The following question (edited for length) is from Founders Space. Q. What’s the minimum two founders must do regarding board meetings for a startup Delaware corporation doing business in California?
A. You should hold an annual stockholder meeting – or, alternatively, prepare a written consent – at which the stockholders elect the board of directors. See Delaware General Corporation Law Sections 211 and following. (more…)
What Are My Entity’s Compliance Obligations?
Frequently, the first service I provide to a client is to form a new legal entity (corporation or limited liability company). And frequently, once that entity is formed, the client’s first question is “What are my entity’s compliance obligations?”
This post provides a high-level answer to that question.
(If you form a corporation in California, you can find additional information in the Postincorporation Matters document on the Downloads page – image above.) (more…)
Corporate Compliance Center Joins Hall of Shame
It is time to add another corporate compliance vendor – Corporate Compliance Center – to this blog’s Hall of Shame.
This story is so common that it would be boring if we weren’t discussing scam artists. (more…)
Attention LLC Members: You Have the Right to Be Heard
I have written about annual meetings of corporations’ shareholders (Annual Meetings: The Basics). Although limited liability companies (LLCs) have no obligation to hold, and typically do not hold, annual meetings of their members, meetings of members can take place.
Section references? below have been updated to reflect California?s new LLC law that took effect on January 1, 2014 (see RULLCA Brings New LLC Laws to California in 2014).
For California LLCs,? meetings of members are governed by Corporations Code Section 17704.07.
Postincorporation Matters
Have you ever wanted a list of what you need to do, once a corporation is formed, to comply with the various legal requirements that confront businesses nowadays? This post may help you.
I am pleased to offer, as a Free Download on the Downloads page, the 10-page document on Postincorporation Matters that I provide to clients once I form their corporations. It addresses such issues as maintaining the separate existence of the corporate entity; conducting annual meetings of shareholders and the board of directors; payment of taxes; personnel hiring and terminations;and intellectual property issues; and much more.
This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.
When is a Shareholder Vote Required?
This post discusses when a California corporation must hold a shareholder vote.
It is based on an Avvo answer that I wrote recently. Please see Beside elections, are there corporate decisions that REQUIRE the vote of the shareholders?
California Shareholder Vote Requirements
A corporation must hold a shareholder vote to approve the following actions. Please note that this may not be a comprehensive list. Reference links are to the relevant California Corporations Code sections. (more…)
What is a Quasi-California Corporation?
This post is the result of my research on the duties of a director of a Delaware corporation that is located, and doing much of its business, in California. Specifically, I wanted to confirm that California law governed those duties, because it is a so-called quasi-California corporation.
Quasi-California Corporation Criteria
Corporations Code Section 2115 addresses non-California corporations for which (a) most voting shares are held by shareholders in California and (b) the average of the following three factors exceeds 50%.
- The percentage of its property that is located in California.
- The percentage of its payroll that is paid in California.
- The percentage of its sales that take place in California.
Compliance Services Joins Hall of Shame
If you form a corporation, the Postal Service soon will inundate you with official-looking forms from companies offering to create or file corporate documents on your behalf. Earlier this week I rescued a client from one of these unnecessary companies, Compliance Services.
Avoiding “Alter Ego” Problems: A To-Do List
Last year, I wrote (Beware Your Alter Ego) about how entrepreneurs sometimes lose the protection against personal liability supposedly offered by their corporations (or, similarly, their LLCs). This post – adapted from Counseling California Corporations by Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) – provides detailed recommendations about what should be done to avoid “alter ego” problems.
Recommendations:
So how important is this legal stuff, anyway?
Two recently-acquired clients had similar situations that brought up the importance of complying with legal requirements.
Each company is a multi-founder startup where one founder became non-productive, and even somewhat detrimental to the business. The other founders wanted to move the problem founder off to the side, where he could cause no more trouble, in a manner that would be fair to everyone involved.
Unfortunately, each company had failed to comply with some of the most basic legal requirements: Holding annual shareholder meetings to elect directors, annual board of director meetings to appoint officers, etc. As a result, in each instance we had to spend time and money taking corporate actions, and recording those actions appropriately in meeting minutes, before the real problem could be solved.
Should I form an LLC or a corporation?
Fairly frequently, an individual will ask whether to should form an LLC (limited liability company) or a corporation for a business. Here are the factors that I typically find are most important.
First, we can pretty much dismiss basic income tax considerations. By default, an LLC is not taxed as a separate entity but a corporation is taxed separately. However, there are ways to override the default tax treatments. An LLC may elect to be taxed as a separate entity by filing IRS Form 8832. Subject to certain limitations, a corporation can avoid separate taxation (i.e., can become an “S corporation”) by filing IRS Form 2553. (Please note, however, that once a company is in business, certain types of transactions can have different consequences for LLCs than for corporations. Accordingly, every company should consult with a tax advisor both up-front and on an ongoing basis.)
Corporate Housekeeping: Keeping Documents in Order
From time to time, clients with established businesses have asked me to bring order to their legal affairs. I refer to this as ” corporate housekeeping “.
Usually, the request results from an extraordinary, but desirable, event. This might be an acquisition offer, a prospective new investor, or a restructuring for tax purposes. In each instance, the client quickly realizes that it has not been paying close enough attention to legal documentation.
Although the clients are in different industries, their stories are similar. In essence, they limit their legal activities and expenditures to those required to bring business in the door, satisfy customers’ needs, and pay employees. This approach works on a day-to-day basis. Yet when the extraordinary event comes up, the company suddenly needs to devote scarce resources to legal clean-up. (more…)
