BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE BANKING & FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE Senator Juan Vargas, Chair AB 361 (Huffman) Hearing Date: June 29, 2011 As Amended: May 19, 2011 Fiscal: Yes Urgency: No SUMMARY Would authorize the creation of a new corporate form called a benefit corporation, and would provide for the rules that must be followed by these types of entities, and by other types of entities wishing to become benefit corporations. DESCRIPTION 1. Would establish a new corporate form called a benefit corporation, and would provide that one or more natural persons, partnerships, associations, benefit corporations, or corporations, domestic or foreign, may form a benefit corporation under the California Corporations Code, by executing and filing articles of incorporation with the California Secretary of State. Would state that the provisions of the General Corporation Law (Division 1, commencing with Section 100), apply to benefit corporations, except where those provisions are in conflict with or inconsistent with the benefit corporation provisions added by the bill. 2. Each benefit corporation would be required to have the purpose of creating a general public benefit. "General public benefit" would be defined as a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, as assessed against a third-party standard (see Number 4 below), from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. 3. In addition, in its articles of incorporation, each benefit corporation could, but would not be required to, list one or more specific public benefits, which would be additional purposes of the corporation. Specific public benefits are defined in the bill as all of the following: providing low-income or underserved individuals or communities with AB 361 (Huffman), Page 2 beneficial products or services; promoting economic opportunity for individuals or communities beyond the creation of jobs in the ordinary course of business; preserving the environment; improving public health; promoting the arts, sciences, or advancement of knowledge; increasing the flow of capital to entities with a public benefit purpose; or the accomplishment of any other particular benefit for society or the environment. 4. Would define a third-party standard, for purposes of the bill, as a standard for defining, reporting, and assessing overall corporate social and environmental performance, which meets all of the following criteria: a. The standard would have to provide a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the business and the business' operations on employees of the benefit corporation and its subsidiaries and suppliers, customers of the benefit corporation, the communities in which the benefit corporation and its subsidiaries and suppliers are located, society, and the local and global environments. The impact of the business and the business' operations on shareholders would not have to be assessed by the third-party entity. b. The standard would have to be developed by an entity that has no material financial relationship with the benefit corporation or any of its subsidiaries, and that satisfies both of the following requirements: i) No more than one-third of the members of the governing body of the organization could be representatives of associations of businesses whose members' performance is measured against the standard, of businesses operating in a specific industry, or of businesses whose performance is measured against the standard; and ii) the entity could not be materially financed by representatives of associations of businesses whose members' performance is measured against the standard, of businesses operating in a specific industry, or of businesses whose performance is measured against the standard. c. The standard would have to be developed by an entity that accesses necessary and appropriate expertise to assess overall corporate social and environmental performance, and that uses a balanced, multi-stakeholder approach, including a public comment period of at least AB 361 (Huffman), Page 3 30 days to develop the standard. d. All of the following information about the standard would have to be made publicly available: i. The criteria considered when measuring the overall social and environmental performance of a business, and the relative weightings assigned to each criterion; ii. The identity of the directors, officers, any material owners, and the governing body of the entity that developed and controls revisions to the standard; iii. The process by which revisions to the standard and changes to the membership of the governing body are made; iv. An accounting of the sources of financial support for the entity, with sufficient detail to disclose any relationships that could reasonably be considered to present a potential conflict of interest. 5. Each corporate entity wishing to become a benefit corporation through conversion or reorganization would require an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of each of its classes of shareholders, or a higher vote threshold, if required in its articles of incorporation. The same vote threshold would be required to amend a benefit corporation's articles of incorporation, or to create or dissolve a benefit corporation through merger or acquisition. 6. Shareholders of an existing corporation that decided to convert to a benefit corporation would be entitled to dissenter's rights, which are spelled out in existing law (Corporations Code Section 1300). Dissenters' rights generally entitle dissenting shareholders to be cashed out for their shares at the shares' fair market value, as of the day before the first announcement of the terms of the proposed reorganization or merger, adjusted for any stock split, reverse stock split, or share dividend which becomes effective after that date. 7. The board of directors, committees of the board, and the AB 361 (Huffman), Page 4 individual directors of a benefit corporation would be required to consider the impacts of any action or proposed action upon all of the following: the shareholders of the benefit corporation; the employees and workforce of the benefit corporation and its subsidiaries and suppliers; the interests of customers of the benefit corporation as beneficiaries of the general or specific public benefit purposes of the benefit corporation; community and societal considerations, as specified; the local and global environment; the short- and long-term interest of the benefit corporation, including benefits that could accrue to the corporation from its long-term plans, and the possibility that those interests could best be served by retaining control of the corporation rather than selling or transferring control to another entity; and the ability of the benefit corporation to accomplish its general, and any specific, public benefit purpose. 8. Would provide that a director of a benefit corporation is not liable for monetary damages for any failure of the benefit corporation to create a general or specific public benefit. Would further provide that a person who performs the duties of a director in accordance with the provisions of the bill is not liable for monetary damages for any alleged failure to discharge the person's obligations as a director. 9. Would provide that a director of a benefit corporation does not have a fiduciary duty to a person that is a beneficiary of the general or specific public benefit purposes of a benefit corporation. Would further provide that a benefit corporation is not liable for monetary damages for any failure to create a general or specific public benefit. 10. Would prohibit any person from bringing an action or asserting a claim against a benefit corporation or its directors, except in a benefit enforcement proceeding, and would provide that a benefit enforcement proceeding may only be commenced or maintained by the corporation, a shareholder, a director, a person or persons that hold 5% or more of the equity interests in an entity of which the benefit corporation is a subsidiary, or other persons specified in the articles or bylaws of the benefit corporation. 11. Would require each benefit corporation to prepare an annual AB 361 (Huffman), Page 5 benefit report, which must be sent to its shareholders no later than 120 days after the close of the benefit corporation's fiscal year, or at the same time it delivers any other annual report to its shareholders, and (with the exception of proprietary or financial information) would have to post the benefit report on its Internet web site. The annual benefit report would have to include a narrative description of all of the following: a. The process and rationale for selecting the third-party standard used to prepare the benefit report. b. The ways in which the benefit corporation pursued a general public benefit and one or more specific public benefits during the applicable year, and the extent to which those benefits were created. c. Any circumstances that hindered the creation of a general or specific public benefit by the benefit corporation. d. An assessment of the overall social and environmental performance of the benefit corporation, prepared in accordance with a third-party standard applied consistently with any application of that standard in prior benefit reports or accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for any inconsistent application. The assessment would not need to be audited or certified by a third party. e. The name of each person or more that owns 5% or more of the outstanding shares of the corporation. f. A statement from the board of directors indicating whether, in the opinion of the board of directors, the benefit corporation failed to pursue its general, and any specific, public benefit purpose in all material respects during the period covered by the report. If, in the opinion of the board of directors, the benefit corporation failed to pursue its general, and any specific, public benefit purpose, this statement would have to include a description of the ways in which the benefit corporation failed to pursue that purpose/those purposes. g. A statement of any connection between the entity AB 361 (Huffman), Page 6 that established the third-party standard, or its directors, officers, or material owners, and the benefit corporation, or its directors, officers, and material owners, including any financial or governance relationship that might materially affect the credibility of the objective assessment of the third-party standard. EXISTING LAW authorizes the creation of several corporate forms, including corporations, partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and limited liability companies, each with its own set of allowable and prohibited acts. COMMENTS 1. Background and Discussion: This bill is sponsored by B Lab (www.bcorporation.net), a nonprofit organization whose stated mission involves using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. According to the company, B Lab drives systemic change through three interrelated initiatives: a) building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for people to tell the difference between "good companies" and good marketing; b) accelerating the growth of the impact investing asset class through use of B Lab's GIIRS impact rating system by institutional investors; and 3) promoting supportive public policies, including creation of a new corporate form and tax, procurement, and investment incentives for sustainable business. B Lab has successfully sponsored benefit corporation legislation in four other states (Maryland, Vermont, Virginia, and New Jersey). In background material provided to the Committee, the bill's author states, "California leads the nation in innovation and sustainability, but it does not have the statutory framework to provide California businesses with the ability to do both simultaneously. There is tremendous demand from the business community in California and nationally for states to create this new kind of corporation. These visionary entrepreneurs and investors want to build businesses with an eye toward the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. AB 361 creates a new corporate form, which allows businesses to voluntarily elect an alternative corporate structure with higher standards of corporate purpose, accountability, and transparency." 2. How Does AB 361 Differ from SB 201? In April 2011, this AB 361 (Huffman), Page 7 Committee heard and unanimously passed SB 201 (DeSaulnier), a bill which would authorize the creation of a new, blended corporate form called a flexible purpose corporation. To those who are not experts in corporate law or corporate governance, AB 361 appears extremely similar to SB 201. Both bills would allow for the creation of for-profit companies with dual for-profit/social-environmental missions written into their articles of incorporation. Thus, both types of corporations (flexible purpose and benefit) could simultaneously pursue missions of public good and private wealth, with the knowledge and support of their shareholders. Both bills require supermajority votes of the shareholders of existing companies to enable the companies' transformation into benefit/flexible purpose corporations, and both provide dissenters' rights to shareholders of existing companies, who decide they do not wish to own a part of the newly formed benefit/flexible purpose corporation. Both bills also require the publication of annual reports, in which the corporations' success in meeting their public benefits is discussed. Yet, the supporters of both bills and many experienced corporate attorneys assert that the two bills are very different. Some interested parties assert that SB 201 and AB 361 can both become law, that they are not duplicative or overlapping, and that the intended users of the two corporate models, and the needs of these users, are very different. Other interested parties have chosen sides, and strongly prefer one bill to the other. The following are some of the key differences between the two bills. This analysis does not attempt to provide a detailed comparison and contrast between the measures; such a comparison is left to the corporate experts who will be addressing the Committee during testimony on the measure. a. SB 201 requires each flexible purpose corporation to identify one or more specific public benefits in its bylaws or articles of incorporation, but does not require the use of any specific metric to evaluate the ability of that corporation to achieve its benefit(s), and does not require review of the corporation's actions by a third party. Instead, it provides a safe harbor for corporations that utilize best practices to report on AB 361 (Huffman), Page 8 their progress toward achieving their special purpose benefit(s). SB 201 also requires a very comprehensive annual report, in which the flexible purpose corporation is required to list material actions it took during the fiscal year to achieve its special purpose objectives, and the impact of those actions; and in which the corporation is required to cite which metrics it used to evaluate its performance, and why those metrics were selected. Furthermore, any flexible purpose corporation that incurs an expense related to the achievement of its special purpose, which is expected to have a material adverse impact on its shareholders, is required to prepare a special report describing that expenditure, for submission to its shareholders, within 45 days of the expenditure. b. AB 361 requires each benefit corporation to create a general public benefit; the identification and achievement of specific benefits is optional. The board of directors of a benefit corporation is responsible for considering the impact of its actions and proposed actions on seven different entities (shareholders, employees, customers, the community and society, the environment, the interests of the corporation, and the ability of the corporation to accomplish its general and any specific public purpose). The directors of a benefit corporation are not required to give priority to any particular factor or group among the seven listed above. The creation of general and specific public benefits is deemed to be in the best interests of the benefit corporation. Annually, each benefit corporation is supposed to assess its own corporate social and environmental performance, using a third party standard selected by the corporation, and include a discussion of its performance in an annual report. An external audit or certification of the corporation's findings is not required. 3. What Third Party Standards Exist, and How Will They Be Used by Benefit Corporations? B Lab, the sponsor of this bill, has developed a third party standard that could be used by benefit corporations to assess their social and environmental performance. They assert that their standard is one of many available to companies that might become benefit corporations. Other third party standards cited by AB 361 (Huffman), Page 9 B Lab include Green Seal ( www.greenseal.org ), the Global Rating Initiative ( www.globalreporrting.org ), the Global Impact Investment Rating System (GIIRS), the International Standards Organization ( www.iso.org/iso/social_responsibility ), and Underwriters Laboratories ( www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/ ). Some developers of third party standards charge for the use of these standards; others offer their standards free of charge. Some standards return a numerical grade; others return a letter grade; others return different types of assessments, such as gold/silver/bronze or pass/fail; still others return more qualitative assessments. Proponents of this bill argue that the market will allow the best standards and systems for measuring benefits to rise to the top. Opponents argue that companies can cherry-pick the standard that will allow them to report on their performance in the best possible light. 4. Summary of Arguments in Support: a. The American Sustainable Business Council (of which B Lab is a member) describes itself as a growing coalition of business networks and businesses committed to advancing a new vision, framework, and policies that support a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable economy. To date, the organizations that have joined the Council represent over 65,000 businesses, many of which are in California. The Council believes that businesses need to have missions that are broader than simply maximizing profit, and that business leaders and investors need to be able to run their businesses in ways that focus on more stakeholders. They observe that traditional corporate law defines the fiduciary duty of corporate officers and directors narrowly, making it difficult for businesses with a social mission to make the kinds of complicated decisions they face every day. AB 361 provides the business model needed by these entities. b. The Social Venture Network includes over 500 members, including many of the pioneers of socially responsible business. Social Venture Network observes that in a traditional corporation, fiduciary duty focuses on increasing shareholder profits. In the case of benefit corporations, fiduciary duty is redefined by stating that the creation of public benefit is in the AB 361 (Huffman), Page 10 best interests of the benefit corporation. This allows corporate officers to define other goals beyond making a profit alone, and gives investors the power to require those officers to make decisions that reflect those goals. c. Green Seal identifies itself as the oldest environmental standard-setting and certification organization in the United States. Its certification process requires on-site audits of manufacturing and service facilities. There are currently over 3,500 products and services certified to Green Seal standards. Green Seal supports the bill for all of the reasons identified by the Social Venture Network and American Sustainable Business Council. "Increasingly, smart corporations are realizing that operations and practices that consider corporate social responsibility and sustainability are the way of the future and represent best business practices...but current law and corporate statutes constrain consideration of other than the narrow goal of maximizing profit." d. The law firm of Wendel Rosen Black & Dean writes in support of the bill, and disputes the assertion (see opposition arguments below) that the bill diminishes shareholder rights. The bill's requirement that a decision to become a benefit corporation be supported by at least a 2/3rds vote among shareholders is among its shareholder protections, as is its provision granting dissenter's rights to shareholders. The bill also increases transparency by requiring benefit corporations to provide shareholders with an annual benefit report. If the benefit corporation fails to make good on its commitments, shareholders can file suit to compel compliance. Shareholders of traditional corporations have no right to receive information about the company's social or environmental performance, and they have no right to sue the company for behaving irresponsibly on such matters. AB 361 provides shareholders control of the company's decision to become a benefit corporation, together with the tools to evaluate and enforce the company's corporate social and environmental responsibility. e. The United States Green Building Council California Advocacy Committee believes that AB 361 contains the AB 361 (Huffman), Page 11 general public benefit provisions which ensure that consumers, investors, and policymakers can clearly distinguish these companies from those that are doing something for short-term marketing purposes. The Green Building Council supports the provision of AB 361 that redefines the fiduciary duty of directors, requiring them to consider the impact of their decisions on the long-term interests of society, not just the short-term interests of shareholders, even when considering a sale of the business. Benefit corporations are also required to assess their overall social and environmental performance against an independent, credible, transparent, and comparable third party standard. Markets thrive on clarity and transparency, and these third party standards create a level playing field, encourage a more efficient and effective marketplace, and build public trust. f. Myriad other organizations, all listed below, sent letters echoing the sentiments expressed above. 5. Summary of Arguments in Opposition: a. The Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar (Corporations Committee) is concerned that AB 361 will enact a fundamental change to the fiduciary duties of corporate directors and will pose a consequent risk to shareholder protections. The Corporations Committee is concerned that the bill will create a framework in which directors are no longer accountable to their shareholders. Under the bill, directors are wholly in control of the nature of their fiduciary duties, because they have the ability to select the third party standard by which their conduct will be measured, with no input from shareholders, and because there are only vague substantive requirements in the bill regarding the third party standard. This presents the possibility that directors will be able to shop for third party standards that suit their purposes to the detriment of shareholders. The Corporations Committee is concerned that, over time, varying third party standards will develop, which will allow directors great discretion to choose not just how stringent or lenient their duties will be, but also the very substance of the duties AB 361 (Huffman), Page 12 themselves. The Corporations Committee also asserts that the bill provides almost no protection to shareholders. Section 14620(a) (the portion of the bill which spells out the fiduciary duties of the directors of benefit corporations) tracks the traditional fiduciary duties found in Section 309 of the General Corporations Code, but eliminates any references to shareholders, essentially eliminating any duty of care or loyalty to shareholders. Furthermore, because the bill lists so many topics that directors are allowed to consider when making actions, the bill will allow them to briefly consider, and then dismiss, shareholder interests. b. The Nonprofit and Unincorporated Organizations Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar (the Nonprofit Committee) opposes AB 361, for somewhat different reasons. The Nonprofit Committee asserts that the bill introduces a corporate form with purposes similar to those of nonprofit corporations, but does not enact oversight and accountability provisions similar to those applicable to nonprofit corporations. The Nonprofit Committee is also concerned that the entity behind the bill (B Lab) has sought tax preferences for benefit corporations in other states, and could do so here, if AB 361 is enacted. Enacting tax preferences for benefit corporations could incentivize the creation of benefit corporations over nonprofit corporations. The Nonprofit Committee is also concerned that the bill limits the liability of benefit corporations and their directors, through express limitations on liability and through the mechanism of the benefit enforcement hearing. The bill expressly disclaims any director fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries of the very public benefits for which the corporation is supposedly formed. Finally, the Nonprofit Committee expresses concerns about the general public benefit definition in the bill. Introducing concepts of general public and specific public benefit into the Corporations Code creates a potential for confusion with the already existing public benefit corporation statute, which allows a nonprofit corporation to be formed for any public or charitable purpose. Finally, the Nonprofit Committee notes, AB 361 (Huffman), Page 13 virtually all corporations provide some kind of general public benefit, if one measures them against the vague standard contained in the bill. c. Two experienced corporate lawyers, Steven Hazen and Keith Bishop, wrote individual letters of opposition, in which they supported the arguments made by the Corporations Committee and the Nonprofit Committee. In addition to supporting the comments of the two State Bar committees, Mr. Bishop asserted that AB 361 is being promoted by an out-of-state entity, which would directly benefit through enactment of the bill. Mr. Hazen enumerated three key points of opposition: 1) The modified fiduciary duty standard provided in the bill comes at the expense of reduced protections for shareholders; 2) The increased breadth of matters that a board of directors may consider when making decisions about the best interests of the corporation increases the opportunity for entrenchment by directors, at the expense of shareholders; 3) The purported social benefits which are asserted to have been achieved by benefit corporations will not be open to verification, because the bill rejects public reporting procedures that would enable doing so. Mr. Hazen does not believe that AB 361 and SB 201 should both become law (he strongly prefers SB 201). He believes that enacting both bills would pose a significant risk of confusion among shareholders, prospective investors, lenders, and the public. He believes that everything the supporters of AB 361 say they want corporations to be able to do could also be done under SB 201. d. The California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) and California Society of Association Executives (CalSAE, whose membership is comprised of nonprofit association executives among its membership) both encourage the author of AB 361 to make the bill a two-year bill, to accommodate the need for additional input and perspectives on the measure's impact. CAN's primary argument in opposition is based upon the concern that benefit corporations will siphon money away AB 361 (Huffman), Page 14 from nonprofits. Fundamentally, CAN does not believe that new corporate forms are needed. It encourages the Legislature to convene one or more informational hearings to evaluate the potential impact of bills like AB 361 and SB 201, before moving either bill to the Governor. If the Legislature chooses to enact new corporate forms allowing for-profit companies to specify public benefits among their primary purposes, CAN believes that the legislation should contain sufficient specificity and accountability, two things CAN sees as lacking in AB 361. CalSAE is concerned that the bill places benefit corporations in the same arena as current non-profit organizations, which may cause both legal and public confusion between benefit corporations and nonprofits. The organization is also dismayed at the lack of oversight the bill requires and is perplexed at the lack of outreach to the nonprofit community. CalSAE is concerned that the limitation on the ability of interested parties to bring benefit enforcement proceedings limits the external accountability of benefit corporations, and is similarly concerned that the bill eliminates any monetary liability for directors who fail to perform their duties, and for benefit corporations that fail to produce a public benefit. CalSAE recommends that benefit corporations should be encouraged to partner with existing nonprofits to pursue public benefits as part of the benefit corporation's mission. 6. Questions: a. Are AB 361 and SB 201 both necessary? Would one hybrid bill, which included the best provisions from both individual pieces of legislation, make more sense? b. At what point does the concept of a "general public benefit" (such as the one promoted by AB 361) become so vague as to become meaningless? Don't all entities produce some public benefit? 7. Prior and Related Legislation: a. SB 201 (DeSaulnier): Would authorize the creation of flexible purpose corporations. Pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee. AB 361 (Huffman), Page 15 b. SB 1463 (DeSaulnier), 2009-10 Legislative Session: Substantially similar to SB 201. Never taken up by the author. c. AB 2944 (Leno), 2007-08 Legislative Session: Until January 1, 2015, would have specified that, in considering the best interests of a corporation and its shareholders, a corporation's board of directors and other specified individuals with responsibility for running a corporation could, in considering the best interests of the corporation and its shareholders, consider the effect of the corporation's actions on the state and national economy, and on the environment, and could incorporate community and societal considerations, among other factors, into its evaluation. Vetoed by the Governor. LIST OF REGISTERED SUPPORT/OPPOSITION Support B Lab (sponsor) AGSJ Alliance of Chief Executives American Sustainable Business Council Bay Area Council Beckwith Associates Bruce Klafter Build It Green California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity Center for Dynamic Governance Chris Mann Clean Fund LLC Direct Dental Drummond Lawson Friends Committee on Legislation of California Great Place to Work Institute green age 360 Green America Green Business Networking Green Chamber of Commerce Green Seal Hanson Bridget LLP KINeSYS Mark Liebowitz AB 361 (Huffman), Page 16 Mindful Investors Minerva Consulting New Harvest Capital New Voice of Business Presidio Graduate School Public Works, LLC Quantum Intech Raymond Katz Silicon Valley Leadership Group Small Business California Social Venture Network Steve Levin The Rosebud Agency The Vianova Group, LLC United States Green Building Council California Advocacy Committee Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP WorkLore Opposition California Association of Nonprofits California Society of Association Management Executives Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar Keith Bishop Nonprofit and Unincorporated Organizations Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar Steven Hazen Consultant: Eileen Newhall (916) 651-4102