Legal Advices to Shareholders of Plants N Plus Ltd

Question

Part 1

Julie and Marcia are shareholders in Plants N Plus Ltd (Plants), a large, listed company. Between them they hold 400 ordinary shares. They are unhappy with Plants’ environmental record. At the annual general meeting, Marcia asks the board two questions on Plants’ mining operations. She considers the answers given to be totally inadequate. She wants to ask further questions about Plants’ offshore drilling operations. 

Required:

Please advise, is the Chair obliged to allow Marcia time to ask these questions?

Part 2

Tom is also a shareholder in Plants N Plus Ltd. Two weeks before the AGM he submitted a list of detailed written questions to the auditor about the content of the auditor's report to be considered at the AGM.

At the AGM the auditor was represented by a very junior employee who provided brief oral answers to the written questions submitted by Tom. The Chair of the meeting then refused to allow Tom to ask any further questions.

Required:

Have either the Chair of the meeting or the auditor breached the Corporations Act?

Part 3

After the AGM, Julie, Marcia, Tom ,and 97 other small shareholders in Plants N Plus Ltd who have similar views decide to campaign to force Plants to alter its environmental policy. Marcia and Julie each transfer one share in Plants N Plus Ltd to their friends Tran and Shelley so that the group now numbers more than 100. They then request the directors of the company to call an extraordinary general meeting to consider a resolution proposing major changes to the company’s environmental policies.

Required:  

Please advise Plants N Plus Ltd.

Summary

This question belongs to business and corporate law and discusses about advices to shareholders of a company based on various events as given in the above scenarios.  

Total word count: 330