Disaster Suspension Continues-COVID-19 Corporate Issues in Alaska
Earlier we reported that on March 19, 2020 (Effective Collaboration with Governor Nets Pragmatic Solution) the Governor of the State of Alaska temporarily suspended certain provisions of the Alaska Corporations Code AS 10.06.405(a) (in person requirement) and AS 10.06.410(a) (notice requirement) for annual meetings until April 12, or later date, if the disaster declaration is extended. On April 10, 2020, Governor Dunleavy signed into law Senate Bill 241 (the “Act”). The Act extended the Governor’s March 11, 2020 Disaster Declaration to November 15, 2020, and set forth a range of temporary changes to state law in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
One such temporary change is Section 12, which permits corporate, nonprofit, and Alaska Native Corporation shareholder meetings to be held and to determine quorum via electronic communication (rather than in person) through November 15, 2020, providing the corporation’s board authorizes and adopts guidelines to govern an electronic meeting. Section 12 also permits a corporation that has or is planning to distribute a proxy statement and notice of annual meeting to renotice or notice the annual meeting so that the meeting may be held by electronic communication.
Because this amendment is temporary, a permanent solution will be necessary to amend the Alaska Corporations Code to provide for telephonic shareholder meetings. Jill McLeod, Bonnie Paskvan, and Siena Caruso are continuing to work with the legislature to implement this permanent solution.
