Missouri Laws 351.090 – Articles of incorporation, how amended
1. At any time or times before the corporation has received any payment for any of its shares, the board of directors may adopt amendments to the articles of incorporation by executing a certificate of amendment as provided in subsection 1 of section 351.095.
2. After the corporation has received any payment for any of its shares, amendments to the articles of incorporation may be made only in the following manner:
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 351.090
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Articles of incorporation: includes the original articles of incorporation and all amendments thereto, and includes articles of merger or consolidation. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- 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.
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Issuing public corporation: unless the articles of incorporation provide otherwise as to the applicability of this section, means a corporation that has a class of voting stock registered with the securities and exchange commission under Section 12 of the Exchange Act and is either (a) a corporation incorporated under the laws of the state of Missouri, or, (b) subdivision (2) of section 351. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- Shareholder: means one who is a holder of record of shares in a corporation. See Missouri Laws 351.015
- Stated capital: means at any particular time the sum of:
(a) The par value of all shares then issued having a par value. See Missouri Laws 351.015
(1) The board of directors may adopt a resolution setting forth the proposed amendment and directing that it be submitted to a vote at a meeting of shareholders, which may be either an annual or a special meeting, except that the proposed amendment need not be adopted by the board of directors and may be directly submitted by the board of directors to any annual or special meeting of shareholders;
(2) Written notice setting forth the proposed amendment or a summary of the changes to be effected thereby shall be given to each shareholder of record entitled to vote thereon within the time and in the manner provided in section 351.230 for the giving of notice of meetings of shareholders. If the meeting is an annual meeting, the proposed amendment or summary shall, nevertheless, be included in the notice of the annual meeting;
(3) At the meeting a vote of the shareholders entitled to vote thereon shall be taken on the proposed amendment. Subject to subsections 3 and 6 of this section, the proposed amendment shall be adopted upon receiving the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon, unless any class of shares is entitled to vote thereon as a class, in which event the proposed amendment shall be adopted upon receiving the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of each class of shares entitled to vote thereon as a class and of the total shares entitled to vote thereon.
3. If the articles of incorporation or bylaws provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors, the number of directors shall not be decreased to less than three by amendment to the articles of incorporation when the number of shares voting against the proposal for decrease would be sufficient to elect a director if the shares were voted cumulatively at an election of three directors. If the articles of incorporation or bylaws do not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors, then the number of directors shall only be decreased to less than three by amendment to the articles of incorporation approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment.
4. If any amendment made under section 351.085 effects a reduction of stated capital, then the corporation making the amendment shall comply with the applicable provisions of sections 351.195 and 351.200, as well as the provisions of this section.
5. Any number of amendments may be submitted to the shareholders and voted on by them at one meeting.
6. A proposed amendment which provides that section 351.407 does not apply to control share acquisitions of shares of a corporation shall be adopted upon receiving the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon, unless any class of shares is entitled to vote thereon as a class, in which event the proposed amendment shall be adopted upon receiving the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the outstanding shares of each class of shares entitled to vote thereon as a class and of the total shares entitled to vote thereon. This subsection shall not affect or limit the right, power or authority of any issuing public corporation to adopt any other amendment or to take any other action in addition to an amendment providing for the nonapplicability of section 351.407 to control share acquisitions of the issuing public corporation pursuant to this section.
7. When a corporation has ten or fewer shareholders, cumulative voting may be abolished only by an affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares.