Newsletters

Corporation Governance: Meetings and Voting

Control of a corporation is exercised through its board of directors. Shareholders in turn elect the directors. In addition to straight voting of one vote per share, there are several methods provided by statute or corporate charter for calculating shareholder votes, including cumulative, class, weighted, and supermajority voting.

Enhanced Antitrust Criminal Penalty and Leniency Provisions

The Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004, signed into law on June 22, 2004, as part of H.R. 1086, increased penalties for violations of the Sherman Act while increasing incentives for participation in the leniency program of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Securities Transfer Agents

Transfer agents track the owners of securities. They also perform several other services for companies with registered and publicly traded securities in the course of tracking the owners of the securities. Transfer agents usually are banks or trust companies, although a company with publicly traded securities may perform transfer agent functions for its own securities.

The Quiet Period Pending Securities Registration Statement Effectiveness

There is a "quiet period" between the time that a company files a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a new public securities offering and the time that the Commission declares the registration statement effective. During the quiet period, referred to as the "waiting period" also, the company and related parties are prohibited by federal securities laws from releasing information to the public that could be construed as promoting sale of the securities covered by the as yet unapproved registration statement.

Failing Company Defense

A merger or acquisition that has the potential to lessen competition significantly may violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 18. However, a "failing company" defense has emerged from case law and legislative history of an amendment to Section 7 that allows an acquisition or merger to proceed if the company being acquired is subject to imminent bankruptcy or liquidation, and the acquiring company is the only prospective purchaser of the failing company.