In business or commercial law, an extraordinary resolution or special resolution[1] is a resolution passed by the shareholders of a company by a greater majority than is required to pass an ordinary resolution. The precise figures vary in different countries, but commonly an extraordinary resolution must be affirmed by not less than 75% of members casting votes, whereas an ordinary resolution only requires a bare majority.
In law, resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be distributed outside the body after its adoption. An alternate term for a resolution is a resolve.
In business or commercial law in certain common law jurisdictions, an ordinary resolution is a resolution passed by the shareholders of a company by a simple or bare majority either at a convened meeting of shareholders or by circulating a resolution for signature. A special resolution by comparison requires a greater vote threshold, which varies in different jurisdictions.
Extraordinary resolutions are generally only required in certain specific situations required by statute. For example, in the United Kingdom, to liquidate a company voluntarily on the ground that it cannot by reason of its insolvency continue its business, requires an extraordinary resolution.
The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but more commonly known as the UK or Britain, is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.
However, in certain circumstances a company may wish to amend its constitutional documents to provide that an extraordinary resolution needs to be passed prior to the company engaging in any reserved matters, purely as a matter of internal organisational control.
Footnotes
↑ Some jurisdictions use both terms, but meaning slightly different things. For example, in the United Kingdom, an extraordinary resolution is a resolution passed by not less than 75% of the members, and a special resolution is a resolution passed by the same majority, but having given then members not less than 21 days' notice of the intention to put the resolution to a vote, see section 378 of the Companies Act 1985
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