Insurance Companies Act (S.C. 1991, c. 47)

Powers of the Court

Marginal note:Court may order meeting to be called

• 781 (1) A court may, on the application of a director, a shareholder who is entitled to vote at a meeting of shareholders or the Superintendent, order a meeting to be called, held or conducted in the manner that the court directs if

  • (a) it is impracticable to call the meeting within the time or in the manner in which it is to be called;

  • (b) it is impracticable to conduct the meeting in the manner required by this Part or the by-laws; or

  • (c) the court thinks that the meeting ought to be called, held or conducted within the time or in the manner that it directs for any other reason.

• (2) [Repealed, 2005, c. 54, s. 321]

• Marginal note:Varying quorum

  (3) Without restricting the generality of subsection (1), a court may order that the quorum required by the by-laws or this Part be varied or dispensed with at a meeting called, held and conducted pursuant to this section.

• Marginal note:Valid meeting

  (4) A meeting called, held and conducted pursuant to this section is for all purposes a meeting of shareholders of the insurance holding company duly called, held and conducted.

Marginal note:Court review of election

• 782 (1) An insurance holding company or a shareholder or director of an insurance holding company may apply to a court to resolve any dispute in respect of the election or appointment of a director or an auditor of the insurance holding company.

• Marginal note:Powers of court

  (2) On an application under subsection (1), a court may make any order it thinks fit including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,

  • (a) an order restraining a director or auditor whose election or appointment is challenged from acting pending determination of the dispute;

  • (b) an order declaring the result of the disputed election or appointment;

  • (c) an order requiring a new election or appointment, and including in the order directions for the management of the business and affairs of the insurance holding company until a new election is held or the new appointment is made; and

  • (d) an order determining the voting rights of shareholders and persons claiming to own shares.

Marginal note:Notice to Superintendent

• 783 (1) A person who makes an application under subsection 781(1) or 782(1) shall give notice of the application to the Superintendent before the hearing and shall deliver a copy of the order of the court, if any, to the Superintendent.

• Marginal note:Superintendent representation

  (2) The Superintendent may appear and be heard in person or by counsel at the hearing of an application referred to in subsection (1).

Pooling Agreements

Marginal note:Pooling agreement

784 A written agreement between two or more shareholders may provide that in exercising voting rights the shares held by them will be voted as provided in the agreement.

SUBDIVISION 2Proxies and Restrictions on Voting

Proxies

Marginal note:Definitions

785 The following definitions apply in this Subdivision.

intermediary

intermediary means a person who holds a security on behalf of another person who is not the registered holder of the security, and includes

• (a) a securities broker or dealer required to be registered to trade or deal in securities under the laws of any jurisdiction;

• (b) a securities depositary;

• (c) a financial institution;

• (d) in respect of a clearing agency, a securities dealer, trust company, association within the meaning of section 2 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act, bank or other person, including another clearing agency, on whose behalf the clearing agency or its nominee holds securities of an issuer;

• (e) a trustee or administrator of a self-administered retirement savings plan, retirement income fund or education savings plan or another similar self-administered savings or investment plan that is registered under the Income Tax Act;

• (f) a nominee of a person referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e); and

• (g) a person who performs functions similar to those performed by a person referred to in any of paragraphs (a) to (e) and holds a security registered in their name, or in the name of their nominee, on behalf of another person who is not the registered holder of the security. (intermédiaire)

registrant

registrant[Repealed, 2005, c. 54, s. 322]

solicitation

solicitation

• (a) includes

  • (i) a request for a proxy whether or not accompanied by or included in a form of proxy,

  • (ii) a request to execute or not to execute or, in Quebec, to sign or not to sign a form of proxy or to revoke a proxy,

  • (iii) the sending of a form of proxy or other communication to a shareholder under circumstances reasonably calculated to result in the procurement, withholding or revocation of a proxy, and

  • (iv) the sending of a form of proxy to a shareholder under subsection 788(1); but

• (b) does not include

  • (i) the sending of a form of proxy in response to an unsolicited request made by or on behalf of a shareholder,

  • (ii) the performance of administrative acts or professional services on behalf of a person soliciting a proxy,

  • (iii) the sending by an intermediary of the documents referred to in subsection 791(1),

  • (iv) a solicitation by a person in respect of shares of which they are the beneficial owner,

  • (v) a prescribed public announcement by a shareholder of how they intend to vote and the reasons for that decision,

  • (vi) a communication for the purposes of obtaining the support of persons in accord­ance with paragraph 770(1.1)(b), or

  • (vii) a communication, other than a solic­itation by or on behalf of the management of an insurance holding company, that is made to shareholders in the prescribed circumstances. (sollicitation)

solicitation by or on behalf of the management of an insurance holding company

solicitation by or on behalf of the management of an insurance holding company means a solicitation by any person pursuant to a resolution or instruction of, or with the acquiescence of, the directors or a committee of the directors of the insurance holding company. (sollicitation effectuée par la direction d’une société de portefeuille d’assurances ou pour son compte)

Marginal note:Appointing proxyholder

• 786 (1) A shareholder who is entitled to vote at a meeting of shareholders may, by executing a form of proxy, appoint a proxyholder or one or more alternate proxyholders, who are not required to be shareholders, to attend and act at the meeting in the manner and to the extent authorized by the proxy and with the authority conferred by the proxy.

• Marginal note:Execution of proxy

  (2) A form of proxy shall be executed by a shareholder or by a shareholder’s attorney authorized in writing to do so.

• Marginal note:Limit on authority

  (3) No appointment of a proxyholder provides authority for the proxyholder to act in respect of the appointment of an auditor or the election of a director unless a nominee proposed in good faith for the appointment or election is named in the form of proxy, a management proxy circular, a dissident’s proxy circular or a proposal under subsection 770(1).

• Marginal note:Required information

  (4) A form of proxy must indicate, in bold-face type, that the shareholder by whom or on whose behalf it is executed may appoint a proxyholder, other than a person designated in the form of proxy, to attend and act on the shareholder’s behalf at a meeting to which the proxy relates, and must contain instructions as to the manner in which the shareholder may do so.

• Marginal note:Validity of proxy

  (5) A proxy is valid only at the meeting in respect of which it is given or at a continuation of the meeting after an adjournment.

• Marginal note:Revocation of proxy

  (6) A shareholder may revoke a proxy

  • (a) by depositing an instrument in writing executed by the shareholder or by the shareholder’s attorney authorized in writing to do so

    • (i) at the head office of the insurance holding company at any time up to and including the last business day before the day of a meeting, or a continuation of a meeting after an adjournment, at which the proxy is to be used, or

    • (ii) with the chairperson of the meeting on the day of the meeting or a continuation of the meeting after an adjournment; or

  • (b) in any other manner permitted by law.

Marginal note:Deposit of proxies

• 787 (1) The directors may specify, in a notice calling a meeting of shareholders or a continuation of a meeting of shareholders after an adjournment, a time before which executed forms of proxy to be used at the meeting or the continued meeting must be deposited with the insurance holding company or its transfer agent.

• Marginal note:Time for deposit of proxies

  (2) The time specified for the deposit of forms of proxy may not precede the meeting or the continued meeting by more than forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays and holidays.

Marginal note:Mandatory solicitation

• 788 (1) Subject to subsections (2) and 768(2), the management of an insurance holding company shall, concurrently with sending notice of a meeting of shareholders, send a form of proxy that is in accordance with the regulations to each shareholder entitled to receive notice of the meeting under section 767.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) The management of an insurance holding company is not required to send a form of proxy under subsection (1) if the insurance holding company

  • (a) is not a distributing insurance holding company; and

  • (b) has 50 or fewer shareholders who are entitled to vote at a meeting, two or more joint holders of a share being counted as one shareholder.

Marginal note:Soliciting proxies

• 789 (1) A person shall not solicit proxies unless a proxy circular that is in accordance with the regulations is sent to the auditor of the insurance holding company, to each shareholder whose proxy is solicited and, in the case set out in paragraph (b), to the bank as follows:

  • (a) in the case of solicitation by or on behalf of the management of an insurance holding company, a management proxy circular, either as an appendix to or as a separate document accompanying the notice of the meeting; and

  • (b) in the case of any other solicitation, a dissident’s proxy circular stating the purposes of the solicitation.

• Marginal note:Exception — limited solicitation

  (1.1) Despite subsection (1), a person may solicit proxies, other than by or on behalf of the management of the insurance holding company, without sending a dissident’s proxy circular, if the total number of shareholders whose proxies are solicited is 15 or fewer, with two or more joint holders being counted as one shareholder.

• Marginal note:Exception — solicitation by public broadcast

  (1.2) Despite subsection (1), a person may solicit proxies, other than by or on behalf of the management of the insurance holding company, without sending a dissident’s proxy circular if the solicitation is, in the prescribed circumstances, conveyed by public broadcast, speech or publication.

• Marginal note:Copy to Superintendent

  (2) A person who sends a management proxy circular or dissident’s proxy circular shall concurrently send to the Superintendent a copy of it together with the form of proxy, any other documents for use in connection with the meeting and, in the case of a management proxy circular, a copy of the notice of meeting.

• Marginal note:Exemption by Superintendent

  (3) On the application of an interested person, the Superintendent may, on any terms that the Superintendent thinks fit, exempt the person from any of the requirements of subsection (1) and section 788, and the exemption may be given retroactive effect.

• Marginal note:Reporting exemptions

  (4) The Superintendent shall publish in a publication generally available to the public, a notice of a decision made by the Superintendent granting an exemption under subsection (3).

Marginal note:Attendance at meeting

• 790 (1) A person who solicits a proxy and is appointed proxyholder shall attend in person or cause an alternate proxyholder to attend every meeting in respect of which the proxy is valid, and the proxyholder or alternate proxyholder shall comply with the directions of the shareholder who executed the form of proxy.

• Marginal note:Rights of proxyholder

  (2) A proxyholder or an alternate proxyholder has the same rights as the appointing shareholder to speak at a meeting of shareholders in respect of any matter, to vote by way of ballot at the meeting and, except where a proxyholder or an alternate proxyholder has conflicting instructions from more than one shareholder, to vote at the meeting in respect of any matter by way of a show of hands.

• Marginal note:Vote by show of hands

  (3) Despite subsections (1) and (2) and unless a shareholder or proxyholder demands a ballot, if the chairperson of a meeting of shareholders declares to the meeting that, if a ballot were conducted, the total number of votes attached to shares represented at the meeting by proxy required to be voted against what, to the knowledge of the chairperson, would be the decision of the meeting on a matter or group of matters is less than 5% of all the votes that might be cast by shareholders in person or by proxy,

  • (a) the chairperson may conduct the vote in respect of that matter or group of matters by way of a show of hands; and

  • (b) a proxyholder or alternate proxyholder may vote in respect of that matter or group of matters by way of a show of hands.

Marginal note:Duty of intermediary

• 791 (1) Shares of an insurance holding company that are registered in the name of an intermediary or an intermediary’s nominee and not beneficially owned by the intermediary may not be voted unless the intermediary sends to the beneficial owner

  • (a) a copy of the notice of the meeting, annual statement, management proxy circular and dissident’s proxy circular and any other documents, other than the form of proxy, that were sent to shareholders by or on behalf of any person for use in connection with the meeting; and

  • (b) a written request for voting instructions except if the intermediary has already received written voting instructions from the beneficial owner.

• Marginal note:When documents to be sent

  (2) The intermediary shall send the documents referred to in subsection (1) without delay after they receive the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

• Marginal note:Restriction on voting

  (3) An intermediary or a proxyholder appointed by them may not vote shares that the intermediary does not beneficially own and that are registered in the name of the intermediary or their nominee unless the intermediary or proxyholder, as the case may be, receives written voting instructions from the beneficial owner.

• Marginal note:Copies

  (4) A person by or on behalf of whom a solicitation is made shall on request and without delay provide the intermediary, at the person’s expense, with the necessary number of copies of the documents referred to in paragraph (1)(a).

• Marginal note:Instructions to intermediary

  (5) The intermediary shall vote or appoint a proxyholder to vote any shares referred to in subsection (1) in accordance with any written voting instructions received from the beneficial owner.

• Marginal note:Beneficial owner as proxyholder

  (6) If a beneficial owner so requests and provides an intermediary with the appropriate documentation, the intermediary shall appoint the beneficial owner or a nominee of the beneficial owner as proxyholder.

• Marginal note:Effect of intermediary’s failure to comply

  (7) The failure of an intermediary to comply with any of subsections (1) to (6) does not render void any meeting of shareholders or any action taken at the meeting.

• Marginal note:Intermediary may not vote

  (8) Nothing in this Subdivision gives an intermediary the right to vote shares that they are otherwise prohibited from voting.