Minnesota Statutes 302A.255 – Director Conflicts of Interest
Subdivision 1.Conflict; procedure when conflict arises.
A contract or other transaction between a corporation and one or more of its directors, or between a corporation and an organization in or of which one or more of its directors are directors, officers, or legal representatives or have a material financial interest, is not void or voidable because the director or directors or the other organizations are parties or because the director or directors are present at the meeting of the shareholders or the board or a committee at which the contract or transaction is authorized, approved, or ratified, if:
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 302A.255
- children: includes children by birth or adoption;
(9) "day" comprises the time from midnight to the next midnight;
(10) "fiscal year" means the year by or for which accounts are reckoned;
(11) "hereafter" means a reference to the time after the time when the law containing such word takes effect;
(12) "heretofore" means a reference to the time previous to the time when the law containing such word takes effect;
(13) "judicial sale" means a sale conducted by an officer or person authorized for the purpose by some competent tribunal;
(14) "minor" means an individual under the age of 18 years;
(15) "money" means lawful money of the United States;
(16) "night time" means the time from sunset to sunrise;
(17) "non compos mentis" refers to an individual of unsound mind;
(18) "notary" means a notary public;
(19) "now" in any provision of a law referring to other laws in force, or to persons in office, or to any facts or circumstances as existing, relates to the laws in force, or to the persons in office, or to the facts or circumstances existing, respectively, on the effective date of such provision;
(20) "verified" when used in reference to writings, means supported by oath or affirmation. See Minnesota Statutes 645.45
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Majority: means with respect to an individual the period of time after the individual reaches the age of 18. See Minnesota Statutes 645.451
- Person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
- Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
(a) The contract or transaction was, and the person asserting the validity of the contract or transaction sustains the burden of establishing that the contract or transaction was, fair and reasonable as to the corporation at the time it was authorized, approved, or ratified;
(b) The material facts as to the contract or transaction and as to the director’s or directors’ interest are fully disclosed or known to the holders of all outstanding shares, whether or not entitled to vote, and the contract or transaction is approved in good faith by (1) the holders of two-thirds of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote which are owned by persons other than the interested director or directors, or (2) the unanimous affirmative vote of the holders of all outstanding shares, whether or not entitled to vote;
(c) The material facts as to the contract or transaction and as to the director’s or directors’ interest are fully disclosed or known to the board or a committee, and the board or committee authorizes, approves, or ratifies the contract or transaction in good faith by a majority of the directors or committee members currently holding office, but the interested director or directors shall not be counted in determining the presence of a quorum and shall not vote; or
(d) The contract or transaction is a distribution described in section 302A.551, subdivision 1, or a merger or exchange described in section 302A.601, subdivision 1 or 2.
Subd. 2.Material financial interest.
For purposes of this section:
(a) A resolution fixing the compensation of a director or fixing the compensation of another director as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the corporation, is not void or voidable or considered to be a contract or other transaction between a corporation and one or more of its directors for purposes of this section even though the director receiving the compensation fixed by the resolution is present and voting at the meeting of the board or a committee at which the resolution is authorized, approved, or ratified or even though other directors voting upon the resolution are also receiving compensation from the corporation; and
(b) A director has a material financial interest in each organization in which the director, or the spouse, parents, children and spouses of children, brothers and sisters and spouses of brothers and sisters, and the brothers and sisters of the spouse of the director, or any combination of them have a material financial interest. For purposes of this section, a contract or other transaction between a corporation and the spouse, parents, children and spouses of children, brothers and sisters, spouses of brothers and sisters, and the brothers and sisters of the spouse of a director, or any combination of them, is considered to be a transaction between the corporation and the director.
Subd. 3.Compensation agreements.
During any tender offer or request or invitation for tenders of any class or series of shares of a publicly held corporation, other than an offer, request, or invitation by the publicly held corporation or by another person pursuant to a plan of merger approved by the publicly held corporation’s board in accordance with section 302A.613 or 302A.621, the publicly held corporation shall not enter into or amend, directly or indirectly, agreements containing provisions, whether or not dependent on the occurrence of any event or contingency, that increase, directly or indirectly, the current or future compensation of any officer or director of the publicly held corporation. This subdivision does not prohibit routine increases in compensation, or other routine compensation agreements, undertaken in the ordinary course of the publicly held corporation’s business.