PRESENTATION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
BUSINESS REGISTRATION DIVISION
TO THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON
CONSUMER PROTECTION AND COMMERCE
THE TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 2004
Monday, February 2, 2004
1:30 PM
TESTIMONY ON HOUSE BILL NO. 1823
TO THE HONORABLE KENNETH HIRAKI, CHAIR, AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify. My name is Ryan Ushijima, Commissioner of Securities, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. The Department appreciates the opportunity to testify on House Bill No. 1823, relating to the business corporation act. The Department opposes this measure, and respectfully requests that the Committee hold House Bill No. 1823.
The purpose of this bill is to make hostile corporate takeovers more difficult. The bill would permit corporate boards of directors to reclassify the board into three or four groups in whatever manner the board desires. Current law limits the number of board groups to three and requires those groups to consist of equal numbers. The bill would also allow boards facing a hostile corporate takeover to reorganize itself so that a majority of the board