3 Alaska Admin. Code § 08.345

Current through September 25, 2024

Section 3 AAC 08.345 - Board solicitations

(a) The solicitation of proxies on behalf of the board for an annual meeting must be preceded or accompanied by the annual report for the corporation's last fiscal year, unless

(1) the solicitation is made on behalf of the board before the annual report is available;

(2) solicitation is being made at the time in opposition to the board; and

(3) the board's proxy statement includes an undertaking to furnish the annual report to all shareholders being solicited at least 50 days before the date of the annual meeting.

(b) The solicitation of proxies on behalf of the board must be preceded or accompanied by a dated, written proxy statement including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) if action is to be taken on the election of directors, a description of each nominee of the board who has consented to act if elected and of each director whose term of office will continue after the shareholders' meeting; each description must include

(A) name, age, and state and city of residence;

(B) all positions and offices presently and previously held with the corporation and its subsidiaries;

(C) the remaining term in office as director and all other periods of service as a director for the corporation and its subsidiaries;

(D) the total number of board meetings, including regularly scheduled and special meetings, and the number of meetings of committees on which the nominee or director served, and the percentage attendance during the last fiscal year at meetings of the board, including regularly scheduled and special meetings, and meetings of committees on which the nominee or director served, including those meeting for which the absence was excused;

(E) the nature of any family relationship with any director, nominee or executive officer of the corporation and its subsidiaries;

(F) business experience during the past five years, including

(i) principal employment or occupation;

(ii) the nominee's or director's employer; and

(iii) other directorships held for other entities;

(G) any of the following events that occurred during the past 10 years: voluntary or involuntary petition under any bankruptcy or insolvency laws, appointment of a receiver, pending criminal proceedings, except traffic violations or other minor offenses, conviction or plea of nolo contendere in a criminal proceeding, except traffic violations or other minor offenses, and the entry of any final judgment, order, or decree, not subsequently reversed or vacated, that the nominee or director engaged in unethical or illegal business practices, violated fiduciary duties, or violated securities laws; and

(H) financial transactions by the corporation since the beginning of the corporation's last fiscal year and presently proposed financial transactions by the corporation or its subsidiaries if

(i) the transactions in the aggregate exceed $20,000; and

(ii) the transaction is with the nominee director, a member of the nominee's or director's family, or an entity, other than an affiliate of the corporation, where a nominee, director, or a member of his family is employed by, is an officer or director of, or owns, directly or indirectly, an interest in the entity;

(2) a statement of all current compensation or other remuneration distributed or accrued and of all future compensation or other remuneration contributed during the corporation's last fiscal year on behalf of

(A) each of the five most highly compensated persons of the corporation, whether directors or officers, for the director's or officer's services in all capacities to the corporation and its subsidiaries, naming each such person; and

(B) all officers and directors as a group, stating the number of persons in the group without naming them; future remuneration contributed includes amounts that were reported in the corporation's annual report for the last fiscal year for annuity, pension or retirement plans and for deferred compensation or profit sharing plans; information need not be furnished regarding costs for ordinary and necessary business expenses or for personal benefits, group life, health, hospitalization, or medical reimbursement plans that do not discriminate in favor of officers or directors of the corporation and that are available generally to all salaried employees;

(3) a brief description, including the purpose and amount, of financial transactions by the corporation or its subsidiaries since the beginning of the corporation's last fiscal year and any presently proposed financial transactions by the corporation or a subsidiary if

(A) the transactions in the aggregate exceed $20,000; and

(B) the transaction is with a director, nominee, executive officer, or family member of a director, nominee, or executive officer, or is with an entity, other than an affiliate of the corporation, where the director, nominee, or executive officer or a family member is employed by, is an officer or director of, or owns, directly or indirectly, an interest in the entity;

(4) a brief description of all legal proceedings to which any director, nominee, or executive officer has been a party with interests adverse to the corporation or its subsidiaries during the last 10 years;

(5) if action is to be taken on the election of directors or other matters for which the financial statements are material to the exercise of prudent judgment, a description of the corporation's relationship with its independent public accountants; this description must include

(A) the name of the principal accountant for the last fiscal year;

(B) a statement indicating whether representatives of the principal accountant are expected to be present at the meeting with the opportunity of making a statement, if they so desire, and with the responsibility of responding to appropriate questions;

(C) each professional service provided by the principal accountant and paid for by the corporation during the last fiscal year, such as preparation of corporate tax returns, preparation of personal tax returns, review of proposed corporate acquisitions, review of personal investments, or development of corporate data processing systems;

(D) the percentage relationship which the aggregate of the fees for all nonaudit services bears to the aggregate of fees for both audit and nonaudit services performed by the principal accountant and paid for by the corporation;

(E) each disagreement with the principal accountant in connection with audits of the last two fiscal years and any subsequent interim period if (i) the principal accountant has been changed since the date of publication or distribution of the proxy statement for the last annual meeting; and (ii)there have been disagreements on matters of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of the former principal accountant, would have caused him to make references to the disagreements in his audit report; the corporation must, at least 20 days before the date of publication or distribution of the proxy statement, furnish by certified mail its description of any disagreements to the former principal accountant; if the former principal accountant believes the description to be incorrect or incomplete, and if he forwards to the corporation, within 10 days of the date of his receipt of the corporation's description, a brief written statement of his view, the statement must be included in the corporation's proxy statement;

(6) a brief description of any arrangement, stating amounts, by which a director is compensated for all services as a director of the corporation and its subsidiaries, including any additional amounts payable for committee participation or special assignments; information need not be furnished regarding costs for ordinary and necessary business expenses or for personal benefits, group life, health, hospitalization, or medical reimbursement plans which do not discriminate in favor of officers or directors of the corporation and which are available generally to all salaried employees;

(7) a brief description of the board's leadership structure, including whether the same person serves as president and board chair or as president and chief executive officer, the attendance policy for meetings and a list of the board's committees, if any, performing audit, nominating and compensation functions, the membership of each committee, the number of meetings held by each committee during the last fiscal year, and a brief description of the functions actually performed by each committee;

(8) a brief description of the methods to be employed to solicit proxies, if other than by use of the mail, and a statement that solicitation is made on behalf of the board;

(9) a statement of the total amount estimated to be spent and the total already expended on the solicitation of proxies; expenditures include fees for attorneys, accountants, solicitors, and public relations or financial advisers and expenses for advertising, printing, transportation, litigation, or other expenses incidental to the solicitation; however, the following expenses may be excluded:

(A) the amounts which the corporation would normally spend on a solicitation for an election of directors in the absence of a contest; and

(B) the salaries and wages of regular employees and officers, if a statement to that effect is included in the proxy statement;

(10) a statement indicating who will bear the cost of solicitation and the total amount any participant, other than the board and the corporation, has contributed or has agreed to contribute, unless the participant is a contributor of less than $500 in the aggregate;

(11) a statement describing any formal procedure or deadline limiting the shareholder's rights to revoke a proxy before its exercise;

(12) a statement of the number of shares outstanding and entitled to be voted at the meeting;

(13) a statement of the date on which the record of shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting will be determined; if the right to vote is not limited to shareholders of record on that date, the solicitation must indicate the conditions under which other shareholders may be entitled to vote;

(14) if action is to be taken on the election of directors and if the shareholders have cumulative voting rights

(A) a statement that they have the rights; and

(B) a brief description of those rights;

(15) for each matter which is to be submitted to a vote of the shareholders, other than the election of directors, a description of the proposal, a statement of the vote required for its approval, and the name of any director who has notified the corporation in writing that the director intends to oppose the proposed action; for example, if action is to be taken on

(A) a proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation or bylaws, the description must include the reasons for and against the proposed amendment, the general effect of the amendment, and the names of any directors who oppose the amendment; or

(B) a proposed property transaction, in addition to identifying any directors who oppose the transaction, the description must

(i) outline the material features of the proposed transaction;

(ii) state the nature and amount of consideration and, to the extent practicable, outline the facts which bear on the question of the fairness of consideration; and

(iii) state the name and address of the other party or parties to the proposed transaction and the nature of any material relationship of the party or parties to the corporation, its subsidiaries, officers, or directors;

(16) a brief description of any substantial interest, direct or indirect, by shareholdings or otherwise, of each participant or executive officer in any matter to be acted upon at the meeting, unless the participant or executive officer owns shares in the corporation and would receive no extra or special benefit not shared on a pro rata basis by all other shareholders of the same class; and

(17) a brief description of the nominating procedures for board candidates.

(c) If a candidate included in a board solicitation or a candidate soliciting write-in votes does not engage in any additional proxy solicitations, the candidate may rely on inclusion in the board's proxy statement, but the candidate remains responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information the candidate provided to the board. If however, the candidate, whether recommended by the board or a candidate included on an open proxy, elects to engage in any additional solicitation, the candidate must comply with 3 AAC 08.355.

3 AAC 08.345

Eff. 1/4/81, Register 77; am 11/27/88, Register 108; am 11/3/2013, Register 208; am 3/20/2016, Register 217, April 2016

Authority:AS 45.55.138

AS 45.55.139

AS 45.55.160

AS 45.55.950