A. Subject to subsection C of § 13.1-772, a shareholder of a corporation is entitled to inspect and copy, during regular business hours at the corporation’s principal office, any of the records of the corporation described in subsection E of § 13.1-770 if the shareholder gives the corporation a signed written notice of the shareholder’s demand at least five business days before the date on which the shareholder wishes to inspect and copy.
B. For any meeting of shareholders for which the record date for determining shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting is different than the record date for notice of the meeting, any person who becomes a shareholder subsequent to the record date for notice of the meeting and is entitled to vote at the meeting is entitled to obtain from the corporation upon request the notice and any other information provided by the corporation to shareholders in connection with the meeting, unless the corporation has made such information generally available to shareholders by posting it on its website or by other generally recognized means. Failure of a corporation to provide such information does not affect the validity of action taken at the meeting.
C. A shareholder of a corporation is entitled to inspect and copy, during regular business hours at a reasonable location specified by the corporation, any of the following records of the corporation if the shareholder meets the requirements of subsection D and gives the corporation written notice of the shareholder’s demand at least five business days before the date on which the shareholder wishes to inspect and copy:
1. Excerpts from minutes of any meeting of the board of directors or a committee of the board of directors while acting in place of the board of directors on behalf of the corporation, minutes of any meeting of the shareholders, and records of action taken by the shareholders, board of directors, or a committee of the board without a meeting, to the extent not subject to inspection under subsection A;
D. A shareholder may inspect and copy the records identified in subsection C only if:
1. The shareholder has been a shareholder for at least six months immediately preceding the shareholder’s demand or is the holder of record or beneficial owner of at least five percent of all of the outstanding shares;
2. The shareholder’s demand is made in good faith and for a proper purpose;
3. The shareholder describes with reasonable particularity the shareholder’s purpose and the records the shareholder desires to inspect; and
4. The records are directly connected with the shareholder’s purpose.
E. The right of inspection granted by this section may not be abolished or limited by a corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws.
1. The right of a shareholder to inspect records under § 13.1-661 or, if the shareholder is in litigation with the corporation, to the same extent as any other litigant;
2. The power of a court, independently of this chapter, to compel the production of corporate records for examination.
G. For purposes of this section, other than subdivision C 3, “shareholder” includes a beneficial owner whose shares are held in a voting trust or by a nominee on the shareholder’s behalf.
History
Code 1950, § 13.1-47; 1956, c. 428; 1975, c. 500; 1985, c. 522; 2005, c. 765; 2008, c. 91; 2010, c. 782.
