Sections 1-21

California Corporations Code > Sections 1-21

Section 1. This act shall be known as the Corporations Code.

Section 2. The provisions of this code, insofar as they are substantially the same as existing statutory provisions relating to the same subject matter, shall be construed as restatements and continuations, and not as new enactments.

Section 3. All persons who, at the time this code goes into effect, hold office under any of the acts repealed by this code, which offices are continued by this code, continue to hold them according to their former tenure.

Section 4. No action or proceeding commenced before this code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by the provisions of this code, but all procedure thereafter taken therein shall conform to the provisions of this code so far as possible.

Section 5. Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions govern the construction of this code.

Section 6. Title, division, part, chapter, article, and section headings contained herein do not in any manner affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the provisions of this code.

Section 7. Whenever, by the provisions of this code, a power is granted to, or a duty imposed upon, a public officer, the power may be exercised or the duty performed by a deputy of the officer or by a person authorized, pursuant to law, by the officer, unless this code expressly provides otherwise.

Section 8. Writing includes any form of recorded message capable of comprehension by ordinary visual means; and when used to describe communications between a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company and its shareholders, members, partners, directors, or managers, writing shall include electronic transmissions by and to a corporation (Sections 20 and 21), electronic transmissions by and to a partnership (subdivisions (4) and (5) of Section 16101), and electronic transmissions by and to a limited liability company (paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (o) of Section 17001). Whenever any notice, report, statement, or record is required or authorized by this code, it shall be made in writing in the English language.
Wherever any notice or other communication is required by this code to be mailed by registered mail by or to any person or corporation, the mailing of such notice or other communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of law.

Section 9. Whenever reference is made to any portion of this code or of any other law of this State, the reference applies to all amendments and additions now or hereafter made.

Section 10. "Section" means a section of this code unless some other statute is specifically mentioned. "Subdivision" means a subdivision of the section in which the term appears unless some other section is expressly mentioned.

Section 11. The present tense includes the past and future tenses, and the future tense includes the present.

Section 12. The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.

Section 13. The singular number includes the plural, and the plural number includes the singular.

Section 14. "County" includes "city and county."

Section 15. "Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.

Section 16. "Oath" includes affirmation.

Section 17. "Signature" includes mark when the signer cannot write, such signer's name being written near the mark by a witness who writes his own name near the signer's name; but a signature by mark can be acknowledged or can serve as a signature to a sworn statement only when two witnesses so sign their own names thereto.

Section 17.1:

(a) In addition to the definition set forth in Section 17, the term "signature" includes a signature in a facsimile document filed pursuant to this code or pursuant to regulations adopted under this code, and presented to the Secretary of State.

(b) The terms "signed" and "executed," when used with respect to the documents filed pursuant to this code or pursuant to regulations adopted under this code, and presented to the Secretary of State, include a document bearing a signature under subdivision (a).

(c) The Secretary of State shall accept facsimile signatures on documents that are delivered by mail or by hand.

(d) A person on whose behalf a document bearing a facsimile signature is submitted for filing to the Secretary of State shall maintain the originally signed document for at least five years from the date of filing.

(e) The Secretary of State may adopt procedures permitting the direct electronic or facsimile presentation of the documents specified in subdivisions (a) and (b). However, the Secretary of State is not required to accept those direct electronic or facsimile filings until procedures are adopted.

Section 18. "Person" includes a corporation as well as a natural person.

Section 19. If any provision of this code, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of the code, or the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.

Section 20. "Electronic transmission by the corporation" means a communication

(a) delivered by

(1) facsimile telecommunication or electronic mail when directed to the facsimile number or electronic mail address, respectively, for that recipient on record with the corporation,

(2) posting on an electronic message board or network which the corporation has designated for those communications, together with a separate notice to the recipient of the posting, which transmission shall be validly delivered upon the later of the posting or delivery of the separate notice thereof, or

(3) other means of electronic communication,
(b) to a recipient who has provided an unrevoked consent to the use of those means of transmission for communications under or pursuant to this code, and

(c) that creates a record that is capable of retention, retrieval, and review, and that may thereafter be rendered into clearly legible tangible form. However, an electronic transmission by a corporation to an individual shareholder or member under this code is not authorized unless, in addition to satisfying the requirements of this section, the transmission satisfies the requirements applicable to consumer consent to electronic records as set forth in the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001(c)(1)).

Section 21. "Electronic transmission to the corporation" means a communication

(a) delivered by

(1) facsimile telecommunication or electronic mail when directed to the facsimile number or electronic mail address, respectively, which the corporation has provided from time to time to shareholders or members and directors for sending communications to the corporation,

(2) posting on an electronic message board or network which the corporation has designated for those communications, and which transmission shall be validly delivered upon the posting, or

(3) other means of electronic communication,
(b) as to which the corporation has placed in effect reasonable measures to verify that the sender is the shareholder or member (in person or by proxy) or director purporting to send the transmission, and

(c) that creates a record that is capable of retention, retrieval, and review, and that may thereafter be rendered into clearly legible tangible form.

California Corporations Code > Sections 1-21
Sections 100-195 >