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V. Stockholders’
Rights and Protection of Minority Stockholders’ Interests
The
Board shall be committed to respect the following rights of the
stockholders:
A.
Voting
Right
Shareholders
have the right to elect, remove and replace directors and vote on certain
corporate acts in accordance with
the Corporation Code.
The Code mandates the use of cumulative voting in the election of
directors. Although directors may be removed with or without cause, the
Code prohibits removal without cause if it will deny minority shareholders
representation in the Board. Removal of directors requires an affirmative
vote by two-thirds of the outstanding capital.
B.
Pre-emptive Right
All
stockholders have pre-emptive rights, unless there is a specific denial of
this right in the articles of incorporation or an amendment thereto. They
shall have the to subscribe to the capital stock of the corporation. The
Articles of Incorporation may lay down the specific rights and powers of
shareholders with respect to the particular shares they hold, all of which
are protected by law so long as they are not in conflict with the
Corporation Code.
C.
Power of Inspection
The
Corporation Code mandates corporations to allow shareholders to inspect
corporate books and
records including minutes of Board meetings and stock registries in accordance with the
Corporation Code and to provide them an annual report including
financial statements without cost or restrictions.
D.
Right to Information
The
Securities Regulation Code requires that shareholders be provided, upon
request with periodic reports which disclose personal and professional
information about the directors and officers and certain other matters
such as their holdings of the company’s shares, dealings with the
company, relationships among directors and keys officers, and the
aggregate compensation of directors and officers. The Information Statement and Proxy Statement where these are found
must be distributed to the shareholders before annual general meetings and
in the Registration Statement and Prospectus in the case of registration
of shares for public offering with the SEC.
The
minority shareholders should be granted the right to propose the holding
of a meeting, and the right to propose items in the agenda of the meeting,
provided the items are for legitimate business purposes.
The
minority shareholders should have access to any and all information
relating to matters for which the management is accountable for and to
those relating to matters for which the management should include such
information and, if not included, then the minority shareholders can
propose to include such matters in the agenda of stockholders’ meeting,
being within the definition of “legitimate purposes”.
E.
Right to Dividends
Shareholders have the right to receive dividends subject to the
discretion of the Board. However,
the SEC may direct the corporation to declare dividends when its retained
earnings is in excess of 100% of its paid-in capital stock, except: a) when justified by definite corporate expansion projects or
programs approved by the Board of directors; or b) when the corporation is
prohibited under any loan agreement with any financial institution or
creditor, whether local or foreign, from declaring dividends without its
consent, and such consent has not been secured; or c) when it can be
clearly shown that such retention is necessary under special circumstances
obtaining in the corporation, such as when there is a need for special
reserve for probable contingencies.
F.
Appraisal Right
The
Corporation Code allows the exercise of the shareholders’ appraisal
rights under the following circumstances:
1.
In case any
amendment to the articles of incorporation has the effect of changing or
restricting the rights of any stockholders or class of shares, or of
authorizing preferences in any respect superior to those of outstanding
shares of any class, or of extending or shortening the term of corporate
existence;
2. In case of
sale, lease, exchange, transfer. Mortgage, pledge or other disposition of
all or substantially all of the corporate property and assets as provided
in the Corporation Code; and
3. In case of
merger or consolidation.
It is the duty of the
directors to promote shareholder rights; remove impediments to the
exercise of shareholders rights and allow possibilities to seek redress
for violation of their rights. They shall encourage the exercise of shareholders’ voting rights
and the solution of collective action problems through appropriate
mechanisms. They shall be
instrumental in removing excessive costs and other administrative or
practical impediments to shareholders participating in meetings and/or
voting in person. The
directors shall pave the way for the electronic filing and distribution of
shareholder information necessary to make informed decisions subject to
legal constraints.
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