[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to electronic filing of corporation and limited liability company annual reports; amending RCW 23B.16.220, 25.15.105, 25.15.085, and 25.15.095; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 23B.16.220 and 1993 c 290 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each domestic corporation, and each foreign corporation authorized to transact business in this state, shall deliver to the secretary of state for filing initial and annual reports that set forth:

(a) The name of the corporation and the state or country under whose law it is incorporated;

(b) The street address of its registered office and the name of its registered agent at that office in this state;

(c) In the case of a foreign corporation, the address of its principal office in the state or country under the laws of which it is incorporated;

(d) The address of the principal place of business of the corporation in this state;

(e) The names and addresses of its directors, if the corporation has dispensed with or limited the authority of its board of directors pursuant to RCW 23B.08.010, in an agreement authorized under RCW 23B.07.320, or analogous authority, the names and addresses of persons who will perform some or all of the duties of the board of directors;

(f) A brief description of the nature of its business; and

(g) The names and addresses of its chairperson of the board of directors, if any, president, secretary, and treasurer, or of individuals, however designated, performing the functions of such officers.

(2) Information in an initial report or an annual report must be current as of the date the report is executed on behalf of the corporation.

(3) A corporation's initial report must be delivered to the secretary of state within one hundred twenty days of the date on which the articles of incorporation for a domestic corporation were filed, or on which a foreign corporation's certificate of authority was filed. Subsequent annual reports must be delivered to the secretary of state on, or prior to, the date on which the domestic or foreign corporation is required to pay its annual corporate license fee, and at such additional times as the corporation elects.

(4)(a) The secretary of state may allow a corporation to file an annual report through electronic means. If allowed, the secretary of state shall adopt rules detailing the circumstances under which the electronic filing of such reports shall be permitted and how such reports may be filed.

(b) For purposes of this section only, a person executing an electronically filed annual report may deliver the report to the office of the secretary of state without a signature and without an exact or conformed copy, but the person's name must appear in the electronic filing as the person executing the filing, and the filing must state the capacity in which the person is executing the filing.

Sec. 2. RCW 25.15.105 and 1994 c 211 s 208 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each domestic limited liability company, and each foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in this state, shall deliver to the secretary of state for filing, both initial and annual reports that set forth:

(a) The name of the company and the state or country under whose law it is organized;

(b) The street address of its registered office and the name of its registered agent at that office in this state;

(c) In the case of a foreign company, the address of its principal office in the state or country under the laws of which it is organized;

(d) The address of the principal place of business of the company in this state;

(e) The names and addresses of the company's members, or if the management of the company is vested in a manager or managers, then the name and address of its manager or managers; and

(f) A brief description of the nature of its business.

(2) Information in an initial report or an annual report must be current as of the date the report is executed on behalf of the company.

(3) A company's initial report must be delivered to the secretary of state within one hundred twenty days of the date on which a domestic company's certificate of formation was filed, or on which a foreign company's application for registration was submitted. Subsequent annual reports must be delivered to the secretary of state on a date determined by the secretary of state, and at such additional times as the company elects.

(4)(a) The secretary of state may allow a company to file an annual report through electronic means. If allowed, the secretary of state shall adopt rules detailing the circumstances under which the electronic filing of such reports shall be permitted and how such reports may be filed.

Sec. 3. RCW 25.15.085 and 1995 c 337 s 16 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each document required by this chapter to be filed in the office of the secretary of state shall be executed in the following manner, except as set forth in RCW 25.15.105(4)(b):

(a) Each original certificate of formation must be signed by the person or persons forming the limited liability company;

(b) A reservation of name may be signed by any person;

(d) A registration of name must be signed by any member or manager of the foreign limited liability company;

(e) A certificate of amendment or restatement must be signed by at least one manager, or by a member if management of the limited liability company is reserved to the members;

(f) A certificate of cancellation must be signed by the person or persons authorized to wind up the limited liability company's affairs pursuant to RCW 25.15.295(1);

(g) If a surviving domestic limited liability company is filing articles of merger, the articles of merger must be signed by at least one manager, or by a member if management of the limited liability company is reserved to the members, or if the articles of merger are being filed by a surviving foreign limited liability company, limited partnership, or corporation, the articles of merger must be signed by a person authorized by such foreign limited liability company, limited partnership, or corporation; and

(h) A foreign limited liability company's application for registration as a foreign limited liability company doing business within the state must be signed by any member or manager of the foreign limited liability company.

(2) Any person may sign a certificate, articles of merger, limited liability company agreement, or other document by an attorney-in-fact or other person acting in a valid representative capacity, so long as each document signed in such manner identifies the capacity in which the signator signed.

(3) The person executing the document shall sign it and state beneath or opposite the signature the name of the person and capacity in which the person signs. The document must be typewritten or printed, and must meet such legibility or other standards as may be prescribed by the secretary of state.

(4) The execution of a certificate or articles of merger by any person constitutes an affirmation under the penalties of perjury that the facts stated therein are true.

Sec. 4. RCW 25.15.095 and 1994 c 211 s 206 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The original signed copy, together with a duplicate copy that may be either a signed, photocopied, or conformed copy, of the certificate of formation or any other document required to be filed pursuant to this chapter, except as set forth under RCW 25.15.105, shall be delivered to the secretary of state. If the secretary of state determines that the documents conform to the filing provisions of this chapter, he or she shall, when all required filing fees have been paid:

(a) Endorse on each signed original and duplicate copy the word "filed" and the date of its acceptance for filing;

(b) Retain the signed original in the secretary of state's files; and

(2) If the secretary of state is unable to make the determination required for filing by subsection (1) of this section at the time any documents are delivered for filing, the documents are deemed to have been filed at the time of delivery if the secretary of state subsequently determines that:

(a) The documents as delivered conform to the filing provisions of this chapter; or

(b) Within twenty days after notification of nonconformance is given by the secretary of state to the person who delivered the documents for filing or the person's representative, the documents are brought into conformance.

(3) If the filing and determination requirements of this chapter are not satisfied completely within the time prescribed in subsection (2)(b) of this section, the documents shall not be filed.

(4) Upon the filing of a certificate of amendment (or judicial decree of amendment) or restated certificate in the office of the secretary of state, or upon the future effective date or time of a certificate of amendment (or judicial decree thereof) or restated certificate, as provided for therein, the certificate of formation shall be amended or restated as set forth therein. Upon the filing of a certificate of cancellation (or a judicial decree thereof), or articles of merger which act as a certificate of cancellation, or upon the future effective date or time of a certificate of cancellation (or a judicial decree thereof) or of articles of merger which act as a certificate of cancellation, as provided for therein, or as specified in RCW 25.15.290, the certificate of formation is canceled.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect May 1, 2001.