Minority Shareholders: Law, Practice and Procedure (4th ed)

✍ Scribed by Victor Joffe QC, David Drake, Giles Richardson, Daniel Lightman and Tim Collingwood

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 609
• Edition: Four
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Minority Rights have become more and more topical due to the rise in importance of corporate governance and the increase in shareholder activism. This well-established work on the law relating to minority shareholders provides practitioners with the most detailed reference on the subject. Minority Shareholders addresses the full impacts of the Companies Act 2006. It covers more than 50 new cases, including many relating to unfair prejudice (such as Neath Rugby Ltd, Southern Counties Fresh Foods Ltd and Sunrise Radio Ltd), as well as multiple derivative actions (Waddington v Chan). The book also has practical appendices which include a full range of forms, precedents and statutory material as well as parts of the Companies Act 2006 making this a complete resource for the practitioner. The new introductory chapter is a useful outline of general issues such as the foundations of a derivative claim and the source of the complaint, giving a clear understanding of the legal practice and procedure.The well-regarded team, led by Victor Joffe QC, is joined by a new author, Tim Collingwood. He confers experience and expertise to the material on rights granted to shareholders.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 10
Foreword......Page 6
Preface......Page 8
Table of Cases......Page 16
Table of Legislation......Page 36
Minority Shareholder Rights: Sources and Remedies......Page 44
Organization of the Book......Page 45
The Common Law and the Companies Act 2006......Page 48
Duty to Act within Powers......Page 52
Duty to Promote the Success of the Company......Page 53
Duty to Exercise Independent Judgement......Page 58
Duty to Exercise Reasonable Care, Skill, and Diligence......Page 59
Conflicts, Profits, Disclosure, and Consent......Page 61
The Duty to Avoid Conflicts of Interest......Page 66
The Duty not to Accept Benefits from Third Parties......Page 68
The Duty to Declare an Interest in a Proposed Transaction or Arrangement......Page 69
Authorization and Ratification......Page 70
Other Duties and Liabilities......Page 71
Personal Rights of the Shareholder and Rights of the Company......Page 72
Control of Litigation in the Name of the Company......Page 73
The Common Law Derivative Claim......Page 75
The Statutory Derivative Claim......Page 78
Procedure......Page 83
Pre-action Conduct......Page 84
Parties to the Proceedings......Page 85
Application for Permission to Continue......Page 87
The First Stage......Page 89
The Second Stage......Page 92
Sections 262 and 264......Page 104
Indemnity as to Costs......Page 105
The Role of the Company at the Permission Stage......Page 110
Legal Aid/Conditional Fee Agreements......Page 115
Procedure Generally......Page 116
Using Section 996(2)(c) to Bring a Derivative Claim......Page 117
The Use of the Statutory Derivative Claim......Page 119
Companies in Receivership or Liquidation......Page 121
Foreign Companies......Page 123
Multiple Derivative Claims......Page 125
Nature of Personal Claims......Page 130
The Statutory Contract......Page 131
Objections to Alterations to the Articles......Page 143
Enforcement of Directors’ Duties......Page 152
Shareholders’ Agreements......Page 157
Representative Claims......Page 160
The No Reflective Loss Principle......Page 162
Basis and Operation of the No Reflective Loss Principle......Page 169
Applicability of the No Reflective Loss Principle......Page 172
The Burden of Proof......Page 181
Limits to the No Reflective Loss Principle......Page 182
Striking Out on the Basis of the No Reflective Loss Principle......Page 196
Human Rights Aspects......Page 197
Class Rights......Page 199
Meetings of the Company......Page 206
Inspection of Registers and Documents......Page 215
Rectification of the Register of Members......Page 217
The ‘Squeeze-out’ and ‘Sell-out’ Provisions of CA 2006, Pt 28......Page 226
Procedure......Page 239
Who may Petition......Page 242
When may Contributories Petition?......Page 245
Scope of the Remedy......Page 249
The Relationship between ‘Just and Equitable Winding Up’ and ‘Unfair Prejudice’......Page 251
Cases where the Remedy is Available......Page 254
Exclusion of the Just and Equitable Regime......Page 260
Forcing a Winding Up......Page 261
Circumstances in which a Winding Up Will Not be Granted......Page 262
The Existence of an Alternative Remedy......Page 263
Procedure......Page 270
Introduction......Page 280
The Statutory Provisions......Page 281
The Meaning of ‘Member’: Who may Petition......Page 282
The Meaning of ‘Company’: Organizations in Respect of which the Remedy may be Granted......Page 286
The Company’s Affairs......Page 287
The Time of Occurrence of the Complaints Made in the Petition......Page 298
The Meaning of ‘Interests’......Page 300
The Meaning of ‘Unfairly Prejudicial’......Page 304
Equitable Considerations and Third Parties......Page 323
Objective Nature of Conduct......Page 324
‘No-fault Divorce’ and Deadlock......Page 325
Examples of Unfairly Prejudicial Conduct......Page 327
The Relationship of Derivative Claims to s 994......Page 355
The Operation of Compulsory Purchase Provisions......Page 361
The Effect on the Petition of the Petitioner’s Conduct......Page 363
Remedies......Page 366
Letter/Offer before Action......Page 387
Disclosure before Presentation of Petition......Page 389
Parties to the Petition......Page 391
Form of Petition......Page 392
Service......Page 394
Return Day and Directions for the Further Conduct of the Petition......Page 395
Disclosure......Page 397
Amendment of Petition and Statements of Case......Page 402
Applications for Interim Relief and Summary Judgment......Page 403
Case Management......Page 412
Split Trial......Page 416
The Striking Out of Claims which are Misconceived, Hopeless, or Inappropriate in Substance......Page 417
Delay and Other Procedural Default......Page 423
Offers for the Purchase of the Petitioner’s Shares......Page 430
Hearing of the Petition......Page 439
Order on the Petition......Page 440
Funding of the Costs of the Proceedings......Page 441
Appeals......Page 449
The Scope of Relevant Tax Law......Page 463
Complexity, Mutability, and Practical Implications......Page 465
Appendices......Page 468
Appendix 1 Forms and Precedents......Page 470
Appendix 2 Statutory Materials......Page 549
C......Page 600
D......Page 602
I......Page 603
N......Page 604
P......Page 605
S......Page 606
V......Page 608
W......Page 609