Sarah, Maisy and Daisy are cousins own and operate a chain of plant nurseries in Melbourne called “Neighbourhood Nursery Pty Ltd”. It is Melbourne’s largest nursery chain with an annual turnover and revenue of several million dollars. It also owns a considerable number of assets. Each of the cousins is a director, employee and shareholder of the company. Maisy’s mother Cheryl is the company’s other shareholder because she contributed a large sum of money to the company to establish the nursery. Cheryl owns 52% of the shares in the company, whilst Sarah, Maisy and Daisy jointly own the remaining shares.
Please answer the following question:
(a) What are the annual reporting requirements for the company? Cheryl believes that she has an automatic right to receive the report documents, but Maisy disagrees with her. Explain using the law to justify your answer.
(b) The company made a very large profit in the last financial year. Sarah, Maisy and Daisy have not decided if they are going to return any of that profit back to the company’s members because they think that it should be invested into a new business scheme which they have devised. Cheryl is furious when she hears this because she wants a return on the money which she invested in the company.
Can Cheryl demand that Sarah, Maisy and Daisy return some of that profit back to her as a shareholder? Explain your answer.
(c) Maisy’s friend Charlie wants to become a director of the company, but he tells her that he is an undischarged bankrupt. Can he become a director of the company? Why or why not? Explain.