Prefiled 01/03/08. Read first time 01/14/08.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to notice under the Washington business corporation act; and amending RCW 23B.01.410.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 23B.01.410 and 2002 c 297 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Notice under this title must be provided in the form of a record, except that oral notice of any meeting of the board of directors may be given if expressly authorized by the articles of incorporation or bylaws.
     (2) Permissible means of transmission.
     (a) Oral notice. Oral notice may be communicated in person, by telephone, wire, or wireless equipment which does not transmit a facsimile of the notice, or by any electronic means which does not create a record. If these forms of oral notice are impracticable, oral notice may be communicated by radio, television, or other form of public broadcast communication.
     (b) Notice provided in a tangible medium. Notice may be provided in a tangible medium and be transmitted by mail, private carrier, or personal delivery; telegraph or teletype; or telephone, wire, or wireless equipment which transmits a facsimile of the notice. If these forms of notice in a tangible medium are impracticable, notice in a tangible medium may be transmitted by an advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the area where published.
     (c) Notice provided in an electronic transmission.
     (i) Notice may be provided in an electronic transmission and be electronically transmitted.
     (ii) Notice to shareholders or directors in an electronic transmission is effective only with respect to shareholders and directors that have consented, in the form of a record, to receive electronically transmitted notices under this title and designated in the consent the address, location, or system to which these notices may be electronically transmitted and with respect to a notice that otherwise complies with any other requirements of this title and applicable federal law.
     (A) Notice to shareholders or directors for this purpose includes material that this title requires ((or permits)) to accompany the notice.
     (B) A shareholder or director who has consented to receipt of electronically transmitted notices may revoke this consent by delivering a revocation to the corporation in the form of a record.
     (C) The consent of any shareholder or director is revoked if (I) the corporation is unable to electronically transmit two consecutive notices given by the corporation in accordance with the consent, and (II) this inability becomes known to the secretary of the corporation, the transfer agent, or any other person responsible for giving the notice. The inadvertent failure by the corporation to treat this inability as a revocation does not invalidate any meeting or other action.
     (iii) Notice to shareholders or directors who have consented to receipt of electronically transmitted notices may be provided by (A) posting the notice on an electronic network and (B) delivering to the shareholder or director a separate record of the posting, together with comprehensible instructions regarding how to obtain access to the posting on the electronic network.
     (iv) Notice to a domestic or foreign corporation, authorized to transact business in this state, in an electronic transmission is effective only with respect to a corporation that has designated in a record an address, location, or system to which the notices may be electronically transmitted.
     (d) Materials accompanying notice to shareholders of public companies. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section or any other section of this title, if this title requires that a notice to shareholders be accompanied by certain material, a public company may satisfy such a requirement, whether or not a shareholder has consented to receive electronically transmitted notice, by (i) posting the material on an electronic network (either separate from, or in combination or as part of, any other materials the public company has posted on the electronic network in compliance with applicable federal law) at or prior to the time that the notice is delivered to the public company's shareholders entitled to receive the notice, and (ii) delivering to the public company's shareholders entitled to receive the notice a separate record of the posting (which record may accompany, or be contained in, the notice), together with comprehensible instructions regarding how to obtain access to the posting on the electronic network. In such a case, the material is deemed to have been delivered to the public company's shareholders at the time the notice to the shareholders is effective under this section. A public company that elects pursuant to this section to post on an electronic network any material required by this title to accompany a notice to shareholders is required, at its expense, to provide a copy of the material in a tangible medium (alone or in combination or as part of any other materials the public company has posted on the electronic network in compliance with federal law) to any shareholder entitled to such a notice who so requests.
     (3) Effective time and date of notice.
     (a) Oral notice. Oral notice is effective when received.
     (b) Notice provided in a tangible medium.
     (i) Notice in a tangible medium, if in a comprehensible form, is effective at the earliest of the following:
     (A) If expressly authorized by the articles of incorporation or bylaws, and if notice is sent to the person's address, telephone number, or other number appearing on the records of the corporation, when dispatched by telegraph, teletype, or facsimile equipment;
     (B) When received;
     (C) Except as provided in (b)(ii) of this subsection, five days after its deposit in the United States mail, as evidenced by the postmark, if mailed with first-class postage, prepaid and correctly addressed; or
     (D) On the date shown on the return receipt, if sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and the receipt is signed by or on behalf of the addressee.
     (ii) Notice in a tangible medium by a domestic or foreign corporation to its shareholder, if in a comprehensible form and correctly addressed to the shareholder's address shown in the corporation's current record of shareholders, is effective:
     (A) When mailed, if mailed with first-class postage prepaid; and
     (B) When dispatched, if prepaid, by air courier.
     (iii) Notice in a tangible medium to a domestic or foreign corporation, authorized to transact business in this state, may be addressed to the corporation's registered agent at its registered office or to the corporation or its secretary at its principal office shown in its most recent annual report, or in the case of a foreign corporation that has not yet delivered its annual report in its application for a certificate of authority.
     (c) Notice provided in an electronic transmission. Notice provided in an electronic transmission, if in comprehensible form, is effective when it: (i) Is electronically transmitted to an address, location, or system designated by the recipient for that purpose; or (ii) has been posted on an electronic network and a separate record of the posting has been delivered to the recipient together with comprehensible instructions regarding how to obtain access to the posting on the electronic network.
     (4) If this title prescribes notice requirements for particular circumstances, those requirements govern. If articles of incorporation or bylaws prescribe notice requirements, not inconsistent with this section or other provisions of this title, those requirements govern.