May 1, 2006
Progress on Delaware Bar Association’s Consideration of Majority Vote Standard
According to ISS’ “Corporate Governance Blog,” the Executive Council of the Delaware State Bar Association’s Corporate Law Section has endorsed draft legislation to amend the Delaware General Corporation Law to enable shareholders to introduce an irrevocable change of bylaws on director elections, as well as provide for an irrevocable resignation of directors who fail to get a requisite number of votes. The proposal does not modify the default plurality standard.
The proposal would amend paragraph 216 of Section 5 of the law to provide that a company bylaw adopted by a vote of stockholders that prescribes a required vote for director elections cannot be altered by the board without shareholder consent.
Another proposed revision seeks to get around the restrictions of Delaware’s “holdover” rule by adding a new provision that a director resignation may be made effective upon the occurrence of a future event or events, coupled with authority granted in the same section to make certain resignations irrevocable.
The proposed bill will be submitted to the Delaware legislature in the next week or two – and then it must be endorsed by the full bar association and then passed by the Delaware legislature before becoming law.