BEC读书笔记之Corporate Governance（一）

kevin · 发表于 2014-6-9 09:53:23

本帖最后由 kevin 于 2014-6-9 09:57 编辑

Corporate Governance

A. Board of Directors

Among the specific duties of directors are the election, removal, and supervision of officers; adoption, amendment, and repeal of bylaws; fixing management compensation; and initiating fundamental changes to the corporation's structure.

1. Declaration of Distributions

2. Fiduciary Duties

a. Right to Rely.

b. Liability for Unlawful Distributions.

c. Duty of Loyalty.

(1) The duty of loyalty prohibits directors from competing with the corporation, but does not necessarily prohibit directors from transacting business with the corporation (e.g., by buying from or selling to the corporation).

(a) After full disclosure, the transaction is approved by a disinterested majority of the board of directors or the shareholders; or

(b) The transaction was fair and reasonable to the corporation.

d. Corporate Opportunity Doctrine.

3. Indemnification

4. Limitation on Director Liability

a. The articles of incorporation may eliminate or limit a director's liability to the corporation for money damages for action taken as a director except to the extent of:

(1) Financial benefits received by the director to which the director was not entitled;

(2) Intentional harm inflicted on the corporation or the shareholders;

(3) Unlawful distributions authorized by the director;

(4) Intentional violations of criminal law; and;

(5) Breaches of the duty of loyalty;

注释: 董事会的一般职能如下：

（一）召集股东大会，并向股东大会报告工作；　　

（二）执行股东大会的决议；

（三）决定公司的经营计划和投资方案；　　

（四）制订公司的年度财务预算方案、决算方案；　　

（五）制订公司的利润分配方案和弥补亏损方案；　　

（六）制订公司增加或者减少注册资本、发行债券或其他证券及上市方案；　　

（七）拟订公司重大收购、收购本公司股票或者合并、分立、解散及变更公司形式的方案；　　

（八）在股东大会授权范围内，决定公司对外投资、收购出售资产、资产抵押、对外担保事项、委托理财、关联交易等事项；　　

（九）决定公司内部管理机构的设置；　　

（十）聘任或者解聘公司经理、董事会秘书；根据经理的提名，聘任或者解聘公司副经理、财务负责人等高级管理人员，并决定其报酬事项和奖惩事项；　　

（十一）制订公司的基本管理制度；　　

（十二）制订本章程的修改方案；　　

（十三）管理公司信息披露事项；　　

（十四）向股东大会提请聘请或更换为公司审计的会计师事务所；　　

（十五）听取公司经理的工作汇报并检查经理的工作；　　

（十六）法律、行政法规、部门规章或本章程授予的其他职权。

Question

Which of the following actions normally requires shareholder approval?

a. Appointing the chief executive officer.

b. Issuing a dividend.

c. The corporate strategic plan.

d. Changing the nature of the corporation.

Difficulty: Moderate

Explanations

(d) The requirement is to identify the action that normally requires shareholder approval. Answer (d) is correct because changing the nature of the corporation requires approval by the shareholders. Answers (a), (b), and (c) are incorrect because they are all actions that can be taken by the board of directors without shareholder approval.

Question

Which of the following is not a duty that is typically reserved for the board of directors of a corporation?

a. Selection and removal of the chief executive officer.

b. Determining executive compensation.

c. Amending the articles of incorporation.

d. Decisions regarding declaration of dividends.

Difficulty: Moderate

Explanations

(c) The requirement is to identify the item that is typically a duty reserved for the board of directors. Answer (c) is correct because this duty is typically reserved for the shareholders. Answers (a), (b), and (d) are incorrect because these are all typically duties of the board of directors.

B. Officers

Officers are individual agents of the corporation who ordinarily conduct its day-to-day operations and may bind the corporation to contracts made on its behalf.

1. Selection and Removal

2. Authority

a. Officers are corporate agents and agency rules determine their authority and power. A corporate president will generally have apparent authority to enter into contracts and act on behalf of the corporation in the ordinary course of business.

3. Fiduciary Duties and Indemnification

4. Not Required to Be Shareholders

Corporate Governance Structure

注释: 公司管理人员的一般职能如下：

（一）主持公司的生产经营管理工作，组织实施董事会决议

（二）组织实施公司年度经营计划和投资方案

（三）拟订公司内部管理机构设置方案

（四）拟订公司的基本管理制度

（五）制定公司的具体规章

（六）提请聘任或者解聘公司副经理、财务负责人

（七）决定聘任或者解聘除应由董事会决定聘任或者解聘以外的负责管理人员

（八）董事会授予的其他职权。

Question

Which of the following forms of compensation would encourage management to take on excessive risk?

a. A fixed salary.

b. A salary and bonuses based on current period net income.

c. A salary plus stock options that cannot be exercised for 10 years.

d. A salary plus restricted stock.

Difficulty: Moderate

Explanations

(b) The requirement is to identify the form of compensation that would encourage management to take on excess risk. Answer (b) is correct because with a bonus based on current period net income, management has an incentive to take on excessive risk to maximize its bonuses. Answer (a) is incorrect because a fixed salary encourages management to take on little risk. Answers (c) and (d) are incorrect because stock options that cannot be exercised for 10 years and restricted stock encourage management to be concerned about the long-term viability of the firm.

注释: 股东会的一般职能如下：

（一）决定公司经营方针和投资计划；

（二）选举和更换董事，决定有关董事的报酬事项；

（三）选举和更换由股东代表出任的监事，决定有关监事的报酬事项；

（四）审议批准董事会的报告；

（五）审议批准监事会的报告；

（六）审议批准公司的年度财务预算方案、决算方案；

（七）审议批准公司的利润分配方案和弥补亏损方案；

（八）对公司增加或者减少注册资本作出决议；

（九）对发行公司债券作出决议；

（十）对公司合并、分立、解散和清算等事项作出决议；

（十一）修改公司章程；

（十二）对公司聘用、解聘会计师事务所作出决议；

（十三）审议法律、法规和公司章程规定应当由股东大会决定的其他事项。

Question

To which of the following rights is a stockholder of a public corporation entitled?

a. The right to have annual dividends declared and paid.

b. The right to vote for the election of officers.

c. The right to a reasonable inspection of corporate records.

d. The right to have the corporation issue a new class of stock.

Difficulty: Moderate

Explanations

(c) The requirement is to identify the right of the shareholder. Shareholders have the right to inspect the corporate records if done in good faith for a proper purpose. Answer (a) is incorrect because shareholders do not have a right to dividends. It is the decision of the board of directors whether or not to declare dividends. Answer (b) is incorrect because although at least one class of stock must have voting rights to elect the board of directors, the officers may be selected by the board of directors. Answer (d) is incorrect because a shareholder cannot force an issuance of a new class of stock.