Corporation By-Laws
standard operating rules
BY-LAWS
OF
SUI GENERIS CORPORATION
(a Delaware Close Corporation)
ARTICLE I. NAME AND LOCATION
SECTION 1. The name of this corporation shall be Sui Generis Corporation.
SECTION 2. The Principal office of the corporation in the State of Delaware shall be in Lewes, Delaware, and its initial registered office in the State of Delaware shall be in Lewes, Delaware. The corporation may have such other offices, either within or without the State of Delaware as the Board of Directors may designate or as the business of the corporation may require from time to time.
ARTICLE II. SHAREHOLDERS
SECTION 1. Annual Meeting. The annual meeting of the shareholders shall be held by the last day of the month of February in each year, beginning with the year 2017 at the time designated by the Board of Directors, for electing Directors and for the transaction of such other business as may come before the meeting. If the day fixed for the annual meeting shall be a legal holiday in the State of Delaware, such meeting shall be held on the next succeeding business day. If the election of Directors shall not be held on the day designated herein for any annual meeting of the shareholders, or at any adjournment thereof, the Board of Directors shall cause the election to be held at a special meeting of the shareholders as soon thereafter as convenient.
SECTION 2. Special Meeting. Special meetings of the shareholders, for any purpose or purposes, unless otherwise prescribed by statute, may be called by resolution of the Board of Directors or by the President at the request of the holders of not less than a majority of all the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote on any issue proposed to be considered at the meeting, provided said shareholders sign, date and deliver to the corporate secretary one or more written demands for the meeting describing the purpose or purposes for which it is to be held. Only business within the purpose or purposes described in the meeting notice required by Section 5 of this Article II may be conducted at a special shareholders meeting. In addition, such meeting may be held at any time without call or notice upon unanimous consent of shareholders.
SECTION 3. Place of Meeting. The Board of Directors may designate any place in or out of the State of Delaware unless otherwise prescribed by statute as the place of meeting for any annual meeting or for any special meeting of shareholders. A waiver of notice signed by all shareholders entitled to vote at a meeting may designate any place, either within or without the State of Delaware, unless otherwise prescribed by statute, as the place for the holding of such meeting. If no designation is made, or if a special meeting be otherwise called, the place of meeting shall be the principal office of the corporation in the State of Delaware.
SECTION 4. Notice of Meetings. Written or printed notice stating the place, day and hour of the meeting shall be delivered not less than ten (10) nor more than sixty (60) days before the date of the meeting, either personally or by mail, by or at the direction of the President, or the Secretary, or the officer or persons calling the meeting, to each shareholder of record entitled to vote at such meeting. If mailed, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail, addressed to the shareholder at his address as it appears on the stock transfer books of the corporation, with postage thereon prepaid. Notice of a special meeting shall include a description of the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called.
SECTION 5. Consent of Shareholders In lieu of Meeting. Any action to be taken at any annual or special meeting of shareholders, may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action to be taken, is signed by the holders of outstanding stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take the action at a meeting at which all stock entitled to vote on the matter were present and voted is delivered to the corporation. Every written consent will bear the date of signature of each shareholder who signs the consent. However, no written consent will be effective unless the consent is delivered, either by hand or by certified or registered mail, within ninety (90) days of the earliest dated consent, to the registered office of the corporation in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business or an officer or agent of the corporation having custody of the book in which proceedings of meetings of shareholders are recorded.
SECTION 6. Remote Communication Meetings. Remote communication means any electronic communication including conference telephone, video conference, the Internet, or any other method currently available or developed in the future by which shareholders not present in the same physical location may simultaneously communicate with each other. Where permitted under the statutes and regulations of the State of Delaware, and in the sole and reasonable discretion of the Board of Directors, a meeting of shareholders of the corporation may be held at a specific location or may be held by any means of remote communication. Where a meeting will employ remote communication, one or more shareholders may participate by means of remote communication or the meeting may be held solely by means of remote communication at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors. Where any remote communication is used in a shareholder meeting, all persons authorized to vote or take other action at the meeting must be able to hear each other during the meeting and each person will have a reasonable opportunity to participate. This remote participation in a meeting will constitute presence in person at the meeting. All votes or other actions taken at the meeting by means of electronic transmission must be maintained as a matter of record by the corporation.
SECTION 7. Closing of Transfer Books or Fixing of Record Date. For determining shareholders entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of shareholders or any adjournment thereof, or shareholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend, or in order to make a determination of shareholders for any other proper purpose, the Board of Directors of the corporation may provide that the stock transfer books shall be closed for a stated period but not to exceed, in any case, seventy (70) days. If the stock transfer books shall be closed for determining shareholders entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of shareholders, such books shall be closed for at least ten (10) days immediately preceding such meeting. In lieu of closing the stock transfer books, the Board of Directors may fix in advance a date as the record date for any determination of shareholders, such date in any case to be not more than seventy (70) days and, in case of a meeting of shareholders, not less than ten (10) days prior to the date on which the action, requiring such determination of shareholders, is to be taken. If the stock transfer books are not closed and no record date is fixed for the determination of shareholders entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of shareholders, or shareholders entitled to receive payment of a dividend, the date on which notice of the meeting is mailed or the date on which resolution of the Board of Directors declaring such dividend is adopted shall be the record date for such determination of shareholders. When a determination of shareholders entitled to vote at any meeting of shareholders has been made as provided in this section, such determination shall apply to any adjournment thereof.
SECTION 8. List Shareholders Entitled to Vote. After fixing a record date, the officer who has charge of the Stock Ledger of the corporation will prepare and make, ten (10) to sixty (60) days before every meeting of the shareholders, a complete list of the shareholders entitled to vote at the meeting, arranged by voting group and in alphabetical order, and shall show the address of and the number of shares held by each shareholder or representative. The list must be available for inspection by any shareholder beginning ten (10) days prior to the meeting and continuing through the meeting. The list must be provided for any purpose related to the meeting: on a reasonably accessible electronic network, so long as the information required to access the list is provided with the notice of the meeting; or during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the corporation. If the corporation decides to make the list available on an electronic network, the corporation will ensure that this information is available only to shareholders of the corporation. If the meeting is to be held at a physical location, then the list will be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time of the meeting and may be inspected by any shareholder who is present. If the meeting is to be held solely by means of remote communication, then the list will also be open to the examination of any shareholder during the whole time of the meeting on a reasonably accessible electronic network, and the information required to access the list will be provided with the notice of the meeting. If any Director willfully neglects or refuses to produce the list of shareholders at any meeting for the election of Directors, or to open such a list to examination on a reasonably accessible electronic network during any meeting for the election of Directors held solely by means of remote communication, those Directors will be ineligible for election to any office at that meeting. The Stock Ledger will be the only prima facia evidence as to who are the shareholders entitled by this section to examine the list required by this section or to vote in person or by proxy at any meeting of shareholders.
SECTION 9. Quorum. A majority of the outstanding shares of the corporation entitled to vote, represented in person or by proxy, shall constitute a quorum at a meeting of shareholders. If less than a majority of the shares are represented at a meeting, a majority of the shares so represented may adjourn the meeting from time to time without further notice. At such adjourned meeting in which a quorum shall be present or represented, any business may be transacted which might have been transacted at the meeting as originally notified. The shareholders present at a duly organized meeting may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough shareholders to leave less than a quorum.
SECTION 10. Voting Rights and Proxies. Subject to the Certificate of Incorporation, each shareholder will be entitled to one vote for each share of stock held by that shareholder. Each shareholder entitled to vote at a meeting of shareholders or to express consent or dissent to corporate action in writing without a meeting may authorize another person or persons to act for that shareholder by proxy, but no proxy will be valid after three (3) years from the date of its execution unless the proxy provides for a longer period. Execution of a proxy may be accomplished by the shareholder or by the authorized officer, director, employee or agent of the shareholder, signing the writing or causing that person's signature to be affixed to the writing by any reasonable means including, but not limited to, by facsimile signature. A duly executed proxy will be irrevocable if it states that it is irrevocable and if, and only as long as, it is coupled with an interest sufficient in law to support an irrevocable power. A proxy may be made irrevocable regardless of whether the interest with which it is coupled is an interest in the stock or an interest in the corporation generally. Such proxy shall be filed with the Secretary of the corporation before or at the time of the meeting.
SECTION 11. Voting of Shares. Subject to the provisions of Section 16 of this Article II, each outstanding share entitled to vote shall be entitled to one vote upon each matter submitted to a vote at a meeting of shareholders. The affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares represented at a shareholders' meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the shareholders of the corporation.
SECTION 12. Voting Rights of Fiduciaries, Pledgers and Joint Owners of Stock. Persons holding stock in a fiduciary capacity will be entitled to vote the stock so held. Persons whose stock is pledged will be entitled to vote, unless, in the transfer by the pledger on the books of the corporation, that person has expressly empowered the pledgee to vote the stock, in which case only the pledgee, or that pledgee's proxy, may represent and vote the stock.
SECTION 13. Voting of Shares by Certain Holders. Shares standing in the name of another corporation may be voted by such officer, agent or proxy as the By-Laws of such corporation may preserve, or, in the absence of such provision, as the Board of Directors of such corporation may determine.
Shares held by an administrator, executor, guardian or conservatory may be voted by him either in person or by proxy, without a transfer of such shares into his name. Shares standing in the name of a trustee may be voted by him, either in person or by proxy, but no trustee shall be entitled to vote shares held by him without a transfer of such shares into his name.
Shares standing in the name of a receiver may be voted by such receiver, and shares held by or under the control of a receiver may be voted by such receiver without the transfer thereof into his name if authority so to do be contained in appropriate order of the court by which such receiver was appointed.
A shareholder whose shares are pledged shall be entitled to vote such shares until the shares have been transferred into the name of the pledgee, and thereafter the pledgee shall be entitled to vote the shares so transferred.
Shares of its own stock belonging to the corporation or held by it in a fiduciary capacity shall not be voted, directly or indirectly, at any meeting, and shall not be counted in determining the total number of outstanding shares at any given time.
SECTION 14. Voting Trusts and Other Voting Agreements. Two or more shareholders may, by agreement in writing, create a voting trust by depositing their stock with a voting trustee, who will have the authority to vote the stock in accordance with the terms and conditions of the voting trust agreement. To be valid, the voting trustee must deliver copies of the list of shareholders and the voting trust agreement to the registered office of the corporation in the State of Delaware. Upon receiving the voting trust agreement, the corporation will issue new stock certificates in the name of the trustee and cancel the old stock certificates. The new stock certificates issued will state that they are issued pursuant to a voting trust agreement. Any amendment to a voting trust agreement will be made by a written agreement, a copy of which will be filed with the registered office of the corporation in the State of Delaware. The right of inspection of any voting trust agreement or related amendment by a shareholder of record or a holder of a voting trust certificate, in person or by agent, will be the same right of inspection that applies to the securities register of the corporation. An agreement between two or more shareholders, if in writing and signed by the parties to the agreement, may provide that in exercising any voting rights, the stock held by them will be voted as provided by the agreement, or as the parties may agree, or as determined in accordance with a procedure agreed upon by them. The above provisions concerning voting trusts and voting agreements will not be deemed to invalidate any voting or other agreement among shareholders or any irrevocable proxy which is not otherwise illegal.
SECTION 15. Informal Action by Shareholders. Unless otherwise provided by law, any action required to be taken at a meeting of the shareholders, or any other action which may be taken at a meeting of the shareholders, may be taken without a meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by all the shareholders entitled to vote with respect to the subject matter thereof.
SECTION 16. Cumulative Voting. Unless otherwise provided by law, at each election for Directors every shareholder entitled to vote, in person or by proxy, shall have the right to vote at such election the number of shares owned by him for as many persons as there are Directors to be elected and for whose election he has a right to vote, or to cumulate his votes by giving one candidate as many votes as the number of such Directors multiplied by the number of his shares shall equal, or by distributing such votes on the same principle among any number of candidates.
ARTICLE III. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SECTION 1. General Powers. The business and affairs of the corporation shall be managed by its Board of Directors except as otherwise herein provided.
SECTION 2. Number, Tenure and Qualifications. The number of Directors of the corporation shall be one (1). Each Director shall hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified. Directors may be re-elected. The Directors need not be a resident of this state or a shareholder.
SECTION 3. Regular Meetings. A regular meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at least quarterly without other notice than this By-Law. The first quarter meeting of each year shall be held immediately after, and at the same place as the annual meeting of shareholders, by the last day of February. The second quarter meeting of each year shall be held by the 15th day of April. The third quarter meeting of each year shall be held by the 15th day of July. The fourth quarter meeting of each year shall be held by the 15th day of October. The Board of Directors may also provide, by resolution, the time and place for the holding of additional regular meetings without other notice than such resolution.
SECTION 4. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by or at the request of the President or any Director. The person or persons authorized to call special meetings of the Board of Directors may fix the place for holding any special meeting of the Board of Directors called by them.
SECTION 5. Notice. Notice of any special meeting shall be given at least five (5) days previously thereto by notice personally given or mailed to each Director at his business address, or by telegram. If mailed, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mail so addressed, with postage thereon prepaid. If notice be given by telegram, such notice shall be deemed to be delivered when the telegram is delivered to the telegraph company. Any Director may waive notice of any meeting. The attendance of a Director at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except where a Director attends a meeting for the express purpose of objecting to the transaction of any business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened, and does not thereafter vote for or assent to action taken at the meeting.
SECTION 6. Consent of Directors In lieu of Meeting. Any action to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board of Directors, as the case may be, consent to it in writing, or by electronic transmission and the writing or writings or electronic transmission or transmissions are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Directors. This filing will be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and will be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.
SECTION 7. Remote Communication Meetings. Remote communication means any electronic communication including conference telephone, video conference, the Internet, or any other method currently available or developed in the future by which Directors not present in the same physical location may simultaneously communicate with each other. A meeting of the Board of Directors may be held by any means of remote communication by which all persons authorized to vote or take other action at the meeting can hear each other during the meeting and each person has a reasonable opportunity to participate. This remote participation in a meeting will constitute presence in person at the meeting.
SECTION 8. Quorum. A majority of the number of Directors fixed by Section 2 of this Article III shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Board of Directors, but if less than a majority is present at a meeting, a majority of the Directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time without further notice.
SECTION 9. Manner of Acting. The act of the majority of the Directors present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act or the Board of Directors.
SECTION 10. Compensation. By resolution of the Board of Directors, the Directors may be paid their expenses, if any, of attendance at each meeting of the Board of Directors and may be paid a fixed sum for attendance at each meeting of the Board of Directors or a stated salary as Director. No such payment shall preclude any Director from serving the corporation in any other capacity and receiving compensation therefor.
SECTION 11. Presumption of Assent. A Director of the corporation who is present at a meeting of the Board of Directors at which action on any corporate matter is taken shall be presumed to have assented to the action taken unless his dissent shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting or unless he shall file his written dissent to such action with the person acting as Secretary of the meeting before the adjournment thereof or shall forward such dissent by registered mail to the Secretary of the corporation immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. Such right to dissent shall not apply to a Director who voted in favor of such action.
SECTION 12. Informal Action by Board of Directors. Unless otherwise provided by law, any action required to be taken at a meeting of the Directors, or any other action which may be taken at a meeting of the Directors, may be taken without a meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by each director, and included in the minutes or filed with the corporate records reflecting the action taken.
ARTICLE IV. OFFICERS
SECTION 1. Number. The officers of the corporation shall be a President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer (COO), Treasurer & Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Secretary & Chief Information Officer (CIO), each of whom shall be elected by the Board of Directors. Such other officers and assistant officers as may be deemed necessary may be elected or appointed by the Board of Directors.
SECTION 2. Election and Term of Office. The officers of the corporation to be elected by the Board of Directors shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at the first meeting of the Board of Directors held after each annual meeting of the shareholders. If the election of officers shall not be held at such meeting, such election shall be held as soon thereafter as conveniently may be. Each officer shall hold office until his successor shall have been duly elected and shall have qualified or until he shall resign or shall have been removed in the manner hereinafter provided. The initial officers may be elected at the first meeting of the Board of Directors.
SECTION 3. Removal. Any officer or agent elected or appointed by the Board of Directors may be removed by the Board of Directors whenever in its judgment, the best interest of the corporation would be served thereby, but such removal shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of the person so removed.
SECTION 4. Vacancies. A vacancy in any office because of death, resignation, removal, disqualification or otherwise, may be filed by the Board of Directors for the unexpired portion of the term.
SECTION 5. President & CEO. The President shall be the principal executive officer of the corporation and, subject to the control of the Board of Directors, shall in general supervise and control all of the business and affairs of the corporation. He shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the shareholders and of the Board of Directors. He may sign certificates for shares of the corporation, any deeds, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments which the Board of Directors has authorized to be executed except in cases where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated by the Board of Directors, or by these By-Laws, to some other officer or agent of the corporation, or shall be required by law to be otherwise signed or executed; and in general shall perform all duties incident to the office of President and such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors from time to time.
SECTION 6. Vice-President & COO. The Board of Directors may determine when there is a need for a Vice-President or Vice-Presidents. In the absence of the President or in event of his death, unavailability of or refusal to act, a Vice-President shall perform the duties of the President, and when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the President. A Vice-President shall perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the President or the Board of Directors.
SECTION 7. Treasurer & CFO. The Treasurer shall: (a) have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of the corporation, receive and give receipts for monies due and payable to the corporation from any source whatsoever, and deposit all such monies in the name of the corporation in such banks, trust companies or other depositories as shall be selected in accordance with the provisions of Article V of these By-Laws; and (b) in general perform all of the duties incident to the Office of Treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the President or by the Board of Directors. If required by the Board of Directors, the Treasurer shall give a bond for the faithful discharge of his duties in such sum with such surety or sureties as the Board of Directors shall determine.
SECTION 8. Secretary & CIO. The Secretary shall: (a) keep the minutes of the shareholders and of the Board of Directors meetings in one or more books provided for the purpose; (b) be custodian of the corporate records and of the seal of the corporation and see that the seal of the corporation is affixed to all documents, the execution of which on behalf of the corporation under its seal is duly authorized; (c) see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of these By-Laws or as required by law; (d) keep a register of the post office address of each shareholder which shall be furnished to the Secretary by such shareholder; (e) have general charge of the stock transfer books of the corporation; and (f) in general perform all of the duties incident to the Office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the President or by the Board of Directors. If required by the Board of Directors, the Secretary shall give a bond for the faithful discharge of his duties in such sum with such surety or sureties as the Board of Directors shall determine.
SECTION 9. Salaries. The salaries, compensation and other benefits, if any, of the officers shall be fixed from time to time by the Board of Directors, and no officer shall be prevented from receiving such salary by reason of the fact that he is also a Director of the corporation.
ARTICLE V. CONTRACTS, LOANS, CHECKS AND DEPOSITS
SECTION 1. Contracts. The Board of Directors may authorize any officer or officers, agent or agents, to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any instrument in the name of and on behalf of the corporation, and such authority may be general or confined to specific instances.
SECTION 2. Loans. No loans shall be contracted on behalf of the corporation and no evidence of indebtedness shall be issued in its name unless authorized by a resolution of the Board of Directors. Such authority may be general or confined to specific instances.
SECTION 3. Checks, Drafts, etc. All checks, drafts, or other orders for the payment of money, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued in the name of the corporation shall be signed by such officer or officers, agent or agents of the corporation and in such manner as shall from time to time be determined by resolution of the Board of Directors.
SECTION 4. Deposits. All funds of the corporation not otherwise employed shall be deposited from time to time to the credit of the corporation in such banks, trust companies or other depositories as the Board of Directors may select.
ARTICLE VI. CERTIFICATES FOR SHARES AND THEIR TRANSFER
SECTION 1. Certificates for Shares. Certificates representing shares of the corporation shall be in such form as shall be determined by the Board of Directors. Such certificates shall be signed by the President and by the Secretary or by such other officers authorized by law and by the Board of Directors so to do. All certificates for shares shall be consecutively numbered or otherwise identified. The name and address of the person to whom the shares represented thereby are issued, with the number of shares and date of issuance, shall be entered on the stock transfer books of the corporation. All certificates surrendered to the corporation for transfer shall be canceled and no new certificate shall be issued until the former certificate for a like number of shares shall have been surrendered and canceled, except that in case of a lost, destroyed or mutilated certificate, a new one may be issued therefor upon such terms and indemnity to the corporation as the Board of Directors may prescribe.
SECTION 2. Transfer of Shares. Transfer of shares of the corporation shall be made only on the stock transfer books of the corporation by the holder of record thereof or by his legal representative, who shall furnish proper evidence of authority to transfer, or by his attorney thereunto authorized by power of attorney duly executed and filed with the Secretary of the corporation, and on surrender for cancellation of the certificate of such shares, and also, any transfer is subject to the limitations set forth in the Articles of Incorporation, reference to which is hereby made. The person in whose name shares stand on the books of the corporation shall be deemed by the corporation to be the owner thereof for all purposes.
ARTICLE VII. FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year of the corporation shall begin on the 1st day of January and end on the 31st day of December in each year.
ARTICLE VIII. DIVIDENDS
The Board of Directors may from time to time declare, and the corporation may pay dividends on its outstanding shares in the manner and upon the terms and conditions provided by law and its Articles of Incorporation.
ARTICLE IX. CORPORATE SEAL
The Board of Directors shall provide a corporate seal which shall be circular in form and shall have inscribed thereon the name of the corporation and the state of incorporation and the words "Corporate Seal."
ARTICLE X. WAIVER OF NOTICE
Unless otherwise provided by law, whenever any notice is required to be given to any shareholder or Director of the corporation under the provisions of these By-Laws or under the provisions of the Articles of Incorporation, a waiver thereof in writing, signed by the person or persons entitled to such notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be equivalent to the giving of such notice.
ARTICLE XI. AMENDMENTS
These By-Laws may be altered, amended or repealed and new By-Laws may be adopted by a minimum two-thirds vote of the Shareholders at any annual meeting of shareholders or at any special meeting of shareholders when the proposed amendment has been set out in the notice of such meeting.