Written resolutions go cyber

Are your directors or members lounging in Kathmandu, Ulaanbaatar or the South Peninsula of Sulawesi? What happens if you don't have any rich tea biscuits left?  Does the sight of the finance director make your feet sweat?  Have you recovered from the falling off the pier after the meeting in Brighton? 
           For whatever reason it may be, sometimes a company or its members just doen't want to hold a general meeting.  In this circumstance there is one time-travelling, internet-friendly warrior of administrative process – the written resolution.
          Currently, there are two mechanisms for a written resolution.  The first is under s.381 of the Companies Act 1985, which includes a requirement to send notification to auditors prior to the resolution (s.381B).  The second more sly mechanism is under Article 53 of the Table A, and no auditor notification is necessary. 

          Nevertheless, where a company has excluded Article 53 from their Articles, the company may use the s.381 route, and save all the shareholders catching the no.73 bus on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. Who cares if Stoke Newington is trendy now?

          The written resolution is a tough cookie which may be applied to all types of resolutions, except those to remove a director or auditor during their term in office.  Written resolutions are just as effective as formal resolutions made at a meeting duly convened (Re Express Engineering Works Ltd [1920] 1 Ch 466).  The reason written resolutions are currently not used for companies with large numbers of members is that agreement of 100% of members is required to pass it.  Written resolutions may all be signed at the same time, since the signatures do not have to be on the same page, and the resolution is dated the last date of the last signature.  Under s.380 of the Companies Act, written resolutions that replace a special or extraordinary resolution must be filed at Companies House within 15 days of being passed. 

          The Companies Law Reform Bill, as of July 2006, makes a number of changes to the nature and procedure of written resolutions (s.295 – 307).  The key new developments are:

• written resolutions must be sent or submitted to every eligible member in hard copy form, in electronic form or by means of a website;
• the resolution must explain how it may be signed and the date on which it will lapse;
• agreement to the resolution may be in hard copy or electronic form (why don't they just say email? Perhaps voting buttons on websites will become all the range for written resolutions of the future);
• a written resolution may be agreed when the required majority of eligible members have signified their agreement to it (s.303).  This means that if the Articles of a company state that certain written resolution require 75% of the company (for replacing special resolutions) or over 50% (for ordinary resolutions) this may be permitted;
• if no period is specified a written resolution will lapse within 28 days of it being circulated.

There are also a number of circumstances where 5% or less (as provided for in the Articles) of members can insist that a resolution is passed as a written resolution.  This applies of the resolutoin proposed for a board meeting is frivolous or vexatious.  Whatsmore, the members could require the company to give a 1000 word description on the subject matter of the resolution.  In this situation, a company has 21 days to circulate such a written resolution after it becomes required by the members.  However, the costs of this circulation must be born by the members (how costly is an email?).  The court or an aggrieved person may prevent the mechanism.

          The Company Law Reform Act ignores the Article 53 of Table A except to say that the Articles cannot prevent a written resolution being proposed and passed where an enactment provides for such a resolution.

          Corporate Blawg UK believes that these reforms are excellent and should lead to a lot less electric lighting in large town halls.  There is also a risk that a minority group of shareholders could themselves become vexatious, frivolous and a downright nuisance - if allowed to insist every resolution is passed as written. 

          Corporate Blawg also questions the wisdom behind allowing written resolutions to "submitted" by website, since unless members regularly check their investment's homepage every month, there is no obligation on the company to go to reasonable endeavours to notify them.  This could be a disadvantage for minority shareholders, and one that could lead to litigation by that minority! 
          Ultimately, the Company Law Reform Act (s.516) still requires the company to notify the Auditor prior to any proposed written resolution where the statutory route is followed.  It therefore seems highly likely that the mighty Article 53 of Table A will remain the chief of these two brothers in Company proceedings.  The question is, how will companies modify Article 53 to introduce more of the statutory wording yet avoiding the auditor provision?  How indeed, drafting pens ready to squirt...

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[Jan Beard]

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Museum in the Community
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[bitaVoili]

producent mebli tapicerowanych
Chyba nikt z nas nie wyobraża sobie wnętrza swojego domu bez mebli tapicerowanych. Kanapa, fotel, narożnik lub wersalka to meble, które bez wątpienia znajdziemy prawie we wszystkich domach. To też można śmiało stwierdzić, iż meble tapicerowane to przedmiot niezbędny w domu każdego z nas. Kiedy wyruszamy się na zakupy do studia z meblami aby zakupić kanapę lub inny mebel tapicerowany to wówczas powinniśmy kierować się kilkoma podstawowymi wyznacznikami. Ceny mebli to ogromnie ważny wyznacznik, różnią się zależnie od rozmiarów mebla ale również jakości surowca, z którego jest on wyprodukowany. Zwykli ludzie kupując meble tapicerowane do swojego domu musimy wiedzieć o tym, by nabyć mebel nade wszystko komfortowy, przydatny i bez wątpienia z materiałów dobrej próby, ażeby tapczan lub puf spełniały swoją funkcję przez lata. Współcześnie asortyment salonów meblowych są ogromnie obszerne, odnajdziemy w nich meble rozmaitych gabarytów, rodzajów i zrobione z rozmaitych surowców. Producenci mebli prześcigają się w nowoczesnych koncepcjach, by zadowolić oczekiwania konsumentów i dzięki temu możemy wybierać spośród tak wielu mebli.