Act No. 68

Public Acts of 2006

Approved by the Governor

March 16, 2006

Filed with the Secretary of State

March 20, 2006

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 20, 2006

STATE OF MICHIGAN

93RD LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2006

Introduced by Reps. Tobocman and Huizenga

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 5323

AN ACT to amend 1972 PA 284, entitled "An act to provide for the organization and regulation of corporations; to prescribe their duties, rights, powers, immunities and liabilities; to provide for the authorization of foreign corporations within this state; to prescribe the functions of the administrator of this act; to prescribe penalties for violations of this act; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts," by amending sections 106, 261, and 489 (MCL 450.1106, 450.1261, and 450.1489), sections 106 and 489 as amended by 2001 PA 57 and section 261 as amended by 1993 PA 91.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 106. (1) "Corporation" or "domestic corporation" means a corporation formed under this act, or existing on January 1, 1973 and formed under any other statute of this state for a purpose for which a corporation may be formed under this act.

(2) "Department" means the department of labor and economic growth.

(3) "Director" means a member of the board of a corporation.

(4) "Distribution" means a direct or indirect transfer of money or other property, except the corporation's shares, or the incurrence of indebtedness by the corporation to or for the benefit of its shareholders in respect to the corporation's shares. A distribution may be in the form of a dividend, a purchase, redemption or other acquisition of shares, an issuance of indebtedness, or any other declaration or payment to or for the benefit of the shareholders.

(5) "Electronic transmission" or "electronically transmitted" means any form of communication that meets all of the following:

(a) It does not directly involve the physical transmission of paper.

(b) It creates a record that may be retained and retrieved by the recipient.

(c) It may be directly reproduced in paper form by the recipient through an automated process.

Sec. 261. A corporation, subject to any limitation provided in this act, in any other statute of this state, or in its articles of incorporation, shall have power in furtherance of its corporate purposes to do all of the following:

(a) Have perpetual duration.

(b) Sue and be sued in all courts and participate in actions and proceedings, judicial, administrative, arbitrative, or otherwise, in the same manner as natural persons.

(c) Have a corporate seal, and alter the seal, and use it by causing it or a facsimile to be affixed, impressed, or reproduced in any other manner.

(d) Adopt, amend, or repeal bylaws, including emergency bylaws, relating to the business of the corporation, the conduct of its affairs, its rights and powers and the rights and powers of its shareholders, directors, or officers.

(e) Elect or appoint officers, employees, and other agents of the corporation, prescribe their duties, fix their compensation and the compensation of directors, and indemnify corporate directors, officers, employees, and agents.

(f) Purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest or otherwise, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use and otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property, or an interest in real or personal property, wherever situated.

(g) Sell, convey, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose of, or mortgage or pledge, or create a security interest in any of its property or an interest in its property, wherever situated.

(h) Purchase, take, receive, subscribe for, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, vote, employ, sell, lend, lease, exchange, transfer or otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, use and otherwise deal in and with, bonds and other obligations, shares or other securities or interests issued by others, whether engaged in similar or different business, governmental, or other activities, including banking corporations or trust companies. A corporation organized or transacting business in this state under this act shall not guarantee or become surety upon a bond or other undertaking securing the deposit of public money.

(i) Make contracts, give guarantees and incur liabilities, borrow money at rates of interest as the corporation may determine, issue its notes, bonds, and other obligations, and secure any of its obligations by mortgage or pledge of any of its property or an interest in its property, wherever situated. This power shall include the power to give guarantees that are necessary or convenient to the conduct, promotion, or attainment of the business of any of the following corporations, whether or not subject to this act, and domestic or foreign limited liability companies, and those guarantees shall be considered to be in furtherance of the corporate purposes of the contracting corporation:

(i) All of the outstanding shares or interests of which are owned, directly or indirectly, by the contracting corporation.

(ii) A corporation or limited liability company that owns, directly or indirectly, all of the outstanding shares of the contracting corporation.

(iii) All of the outstanding shares or interests of which are owned, directly or indirectly, by a corporation, whether or not subject to this act, or a limited liability company that owns, directly or indirectly, all of the outstanding shares of the contracting corporation.

(j) Lend money, invest and reinvest its funds, and take and hold real and personal property as security for the payment of funds so loaned or invested.

(k) Make donations for any of the following: The public welfare; community fund or hospital; or a charitable, educational, scientific, civic, or similar purpose. A corporation also has the power to provide aid in time of war or other national emergency.

(l) Pay pensions, establish and carry out pension, profit sharing, share bonus, share purchase, share option, savings, thrift and other retirement, incentive and benefit plans, trusts, and provisions for any of its directors, officers, and employees.

(m) Purchase, receive, take, otherwise acquire, own, hold, sell, lend, exchange, transfer, otherwise dispose of, pledge, use and otherwise deal in and with its own shares, bonds, and other securities.

(n) Participate with others in any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, or other association of any kind, or in any transaction, undertaking, or agreement which the participating corporation would have power to conduct by itself, whether or not the participation involves sharing or delegation of control with or to others.

(o) Cease its corporate activities and dissolve.

(p) Transact business, carry on its operations, and have offices and exercise the powers granted by this act in any jurisdiction in or outside the United States.

(q) Have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect any purpose for which the corporation is formed.

(r) Participate as a member of any mutual insurance company for purposes of insuring property or activities relative to nuclear facilities owned, operated, constructed, or being constructed by the corporation.

Sec. 489. (1) A shareholder may bring an action in the circuit court of the county in which the principal place of business or registered office of the corporation is located to establish that the acts of the directors or those in control of the corporation are illegal, fraudulent, or willfully unfair and oppressive to the corporation or to the shareholder. If the shareholder establishes grounds for relief, the circuit court may make an order or grant relief as it considers appropriate, including, without limitation, an order providing for any of the following:

(a) The dissolution and liquidation of the assets and business of the corporation.

(b) The cancellation or alteration of a provision contained in the articles of incorporation, an amendment of the articles of incorporation, or the bylaws of the corporation.

(c) The cancellation, alteration, or injunction against a resolution or other act of the corporation.

(d) The direction or prohibition of an act of the corporation or of shareholders, directors, officers, or other persons party to the action.

(e) The purchase at fair value of the shares of a shareholder, either by the corporation or by the officers, directors, or other shareholders responsible for the wrongful acts.

(f) An award of damages to the corporation or a shareholder. An action seeking an award of damages must be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action under this section has accrued, or within 2 years after the shareholder discovers or reasonably should have discovered the cause of action under this section, whichever occurs first.

(2) No action under this section shall be brought by a shareholder whose shares are listed on a national securities exchange or regularly traded in a market maintained by 1 or more members of a national or affiliated securities association.

(3) As used in this section, "willfully unfair and oppressive conduct" means a continuing course of conduct or a significant action or series of actions that substantially interferes with the interests of the shareholder as a shareholder. Willfully unfair and oppressive conduct may include the termination of employment or limitations on employment benefits to the extent that the actions interfere with distributions or other shareholder interests disproportionately as to the affected shareholder. The term does not include conduct or actions that are permitted by an agreement, the articles of incorporation, the bylaws, or a consistently applied written corporate policy or procedure.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor