New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc 6-K, filed Nov 28, 2023
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (EDU)
About this 6-K
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc filed this 6-K on November 28, 2023.
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of November 2023
Commission File Number: 001-32993
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
No. 6 Hai Dian Zhong Street
Haidian District
Beijing 100080, People’s Republic of China
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F ☑ Form 40-F ☐
EXPLANATORY NOTE
We made an announcement dated November 28, 2023 with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”) in relation to the results of the annual general meeting of shareholders held on November 28, 2023. For details, please refer to exhibit 99.2 to this current report on Form 6-K.
Exhibit Index
Exhibit 3.1 – Third Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association of the Registrant
Exhibit 99.1 – Press Release
Exhibit 99.2 – Announcement – Results of 2023 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. | ||
| By: | /s/ Stephen Zhihui Yang | |
| Name: | Stephen Zhihui Yang | |
| Title: | Executive President and Chief Financial Officer | |
Date: November 28, 2023
[Signature Page to 6-K]
Exhibit 3.1
THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
新东方教育科 技（ 集团 ）有限公司
THE COMPANIES ACT (REVISED)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
Adopted by Special Resolution
passed on November 28, 2023
| 1. | The name of the Company is New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc., and its dual foreign name is 新东方教育科技（集团）有限公司. |
| 2. | The Registered Office of the Company shall be at the offices of Conyers Trust Company (Cayman) Limited, Cricket Square, Hutchins Drive, PO Box 2681, Grand Cayman, KY1-1111, Cayman Islands, or at such other place as the Directors may from time to time decide. |
| 3. | The objects for which the Company is established are unrestricted and the Company shall have full power and authority to carry out any object not prohibited by the Companies Act (Revised) or as the same may be revised from time to time, or any other law of the Cayman Islands. |
| 4. | The liability of each Member is limited to the amount from time to time unpaid on such Member’s shares. |
| 5. | The authorized share capital of the Company is US$3,000,000 divided into 3,000,000,000 shares, with a par value of US$0.001 each. The Company has the power to redeem or purchase any of its shares and to increase or reduce the said capital subject to the provisions of the Companies Act (Revised) and the Articles of Association and to issue any part of its capital, whether original, redeemed or increased with or without any preference, priority or special privilege or subject to any postponement of rights or to any conditions or restrictions and so that unless the conditions of issue shall otherwise expressly declare every issue of shares whether declared to be preference or otherwise shall be subject to the powers hereinbefore contained. |
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| 6. | The Company has the power to register by way of continuation as a body corporate limited by shares under the laws of any jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands and to be deregistered in the Cayman Islands. |
| 7. | Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Third Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association bear the same meaning as those given in the Third Amended and Restated Articles of Association of the Company adopted by Special Resolution passed on November 28, 2023. |
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THE COMPANIES ACT (REVISED)
OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
OF
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
新东方教育科 技（ 集团 ）有限公司
Adopted by Special Resolution
passed on November 28, 2023
INTERPRETATION
| 1. | In these Articles, unless otherwise defined, the defined terms shall have the meanings assigned to them as follows: |
| “Articles” | the Third Amended and Restated Articles of Association adopted by Special Resolution on November 28, 2023, as from time to time altered or added to in accordance with the Statutes and these Articles; | |
| “Board” | the board of Directors for the time being of the Company; | |
| “Business Day” | a day, excluding Saturdays or Sundays, on which banks in Hong Kong, Shanghai and New York are open for general banking business throughout their normal business hours; | |
| “Common Shares” | common shares of par value of US$0.001 each in the capital of the Company; | |
| “Companies Act” | the Companies Act, Cap. 22 of the Cayman Islands and any amendments thereto or re-enactments thereof for the time being in force and includes every other law incorporated therewith or substituted therefor; | |
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| “Company” | New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. 新东方教育科技（集团）有限公司, a
Cayman Islands company limited by shares; | |
| “Company’s Website” | the website of the Company, the address or domain name of which has been notified to Members; | |
| “Designated Stock Exchange” | the New York Stock Exchange, Inc.; | |
| “Directors” and “Board of Directors” | the directors of the Company for the time being, or as the case may be, the Directors assembled as a Board or as a committee thereof; | |
| “electronic” | the meaning given to it in the Electronic Transactions Act 2000 of the Cayman Islands and any amendment thereto or re-enactments thereof for the time being in force and includes every other law incorporated therewith or substituted therefore; | |
| “electronic communication” | a communication sent, transmitted, conveyed and received by wire, by radio, by optical means or by other similar means in any form through any medium, including but not limited to electronic posting to the Company’s Website, transmission to any number, address or internet website or other electronic delivery methods as otherwise decided and approved by not less than two-thirds of the vote of the Board; | |
| “electronic meeting” | a general meeting held and conducted wholly and exclusively by virtual attendance and participation by Members and/or proxies by means of electronic facilities; | |
| “Hong Kong Stock Exchange” | The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited; | |
| “hybrid meeting” | a general meeting convened for the (i) physical attendance by Members and/or proxies at the principal place of the meeting and where applicable, one or more meeting locations and (ii) virtual attendance and participation by Members and/or proxies by means of electronic facilities; | |
| “in writing” | includes writing, printing, lithograph, photograph, type-writing and every other mode of representing words or figures in a legible and non-transitory form and, shall also include a record maintained in an electronic medium which is accessible in visible form so as to be useable for subsequent reference; | |
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| “Listing Rules” | the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, as amended from time to time; | |
| “Member” | a person whose name is entered in the Register of Members as the holder of a share or shares; | |
| “Memorandum of Association” | the Memorandum of Association of the Company, as amended and re-stated from time to time; | |
| “month” | calendar month; | |
| “Office” | the registered office of the Company for the time being; | |
| “Ordinary Resolution” | a resolution: | |
| (a) passed by a simple majority of votes cast by such Members as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, in the case of any Member being an organization, by its duly authorized representative or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of the Company; or | ||
| (b) approved in writing by all of the Members entitled to vote at a general meeting of the Company in one or more instruments each signed by one or more of the Members and the effective date of the resolution so adopted shall be the date on which the instrument, or the last of such instruments if more than one, is executed; | ||
| “paid up” | paid up as to the par value and any premium payable in respect of the issue of any shares and includes credited as paid up; | |
| “physical meeting” | a general meeting held and conducted by physical attendance and participation by Members and/or proxies at the principal place of the meeting and/or where applicable, one or more meeting locations; | |
| “Register of Members” | the register to be kept by the Company in accordance with Section 40 of the Companies Act; | |
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| “Registration Office” | in respect of any class of share capital such place as the Board may from time to time determine to keep a branch register of Members in respect of that class of share capital and where (except in cases where the Board otherwise directs) the transfers or other documents of title for such class of share capital are to be lodged for registration and are to be registered; | |
| “Seal” | the Common Seal of the Company including any facsimile thereof; | |
| “Securities Act” | the Securities Act of 1933 of the United States of America, as amended; | |
| “share” | any share in the capital of the Company, including the Common Shares and shares of other classes (if any); | |
| “shareholders” | any or all of those persons at any time holding any shares; | |
| “signed” | includes a signature or representation of a signature affixed by mechanical means or an electronic symbol or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic communication and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic communication; | |
| “Special Resolution” | a resolution shall be a special resolution when it has been passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of votes cast by such Members as, being entitled so to do, vote in person or, in the case of such Members as are corporations, by their respective duly authorised representative or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at a general meeting of which not less than seven (7) clear days’ notice, specifying (without prejudice to the power contained in these Articles to amend the same) the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution, has been duly given; | |
| “Statutes” | the Companies Act and every other laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands for the time being in force concerning companies and affecting the Company; | |
| “year” | calendar year. | |
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| 2. | In these Articles, save where the context requires otherwise: |
| (a) | words importing the singular number shall include the plural number and vice versa; |
| (b) | words importing the masculine gender only shall include the feminine gender; |
| (c) | words importing persons only shall include companies or associations or bodies of persons, whether corporate or not; |
| (d) | “may” shall be construed as permissive and “shall” shall be construed as imperative; |
| (e) | a reference to a dollar or dollars (or $) is a reference to dollars of the United States; |
| (f) | references to a statutory enactment shall include reference to any amendment or re- enactment thereof for the time being in force; |
| (g) | any phrase introduced by the terms “including”, “include”, “in particular” or any similar expression shall be construed as illustrative and shall not limit the sense of the words preceding those terms; |
| (h) | expressions referring to writing shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including printing, lithography, photography and other modes of representing or reproducing words or figures in a legible and non-transitory form or, to the extent permitted by and in accordance with the Statutes and other applicable laws, rules and regulations, any visible substitute for writing (including an electronic communication), or modes of representing or reproducing words partly in one visible form and partly in another visible form, and including where the representation takes the form of electronic display, provided that both the mode of service of the relevant document or Notice and the Member’s election comply with all applicable Statutes, rules and regulations; |
| (i) | references to a document (including, but without limitation, a resolution in writing) being signed or executed include references to it being signed or executed under hand or under seal or by electronic signature or by electronic communication or by any other method and references to a Notice or document include a Notice or document recorded or stored in any digital, electronic, electrical, magnetic or other retrievable form or medium and information in visible form whether having physical substance or not; |
| (j) | Section 8 and Section 19 of the Electronic Transactions Act of the Cayman Islands, as amended from time to time, shall not apply to these Articles to the extent it imposes obligations or requirements in addition to those set out in these Articles; |
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| (k) | references to the right of a Member to speak at an electronic meeting or a hybrid meeting shall include the right to raise questions or make statements to the chairman of the meeting, verbally or in written form, by means of electronic facilities. Such a right shall be deemed to have been duly exercised if the questions or statements may be heard or seen by all or only some of the persons present at the meeting (or only by the chairman of the meeting) in which event the chairman of the meeting shall relay the questions raised or the statements made verbatim to all persons present at the meeting, either orally or in writing using electronic facilities; |
| (l) | a reference to a meeting: (a) shall mean a meeting convened and held in any manner permitted by these Articles and any Member or Director attending and participating at a meeting by means of electronic facilities shall be deemed to be present at that meeting for all purposes of the Statutes and these Articles, and attend, participate, attending, participating, attendance and participation shall be construed accordingly, and (b) shall, where the context is appropriate, include a meeting that has been postponed by the Board; |
| (m) | references to a person’s participation in the business of a general meeting include without limitation and as relevant the right (including, in the case of a corporation, through a duly authorised representative) to speak or communicate, vote, be represented by a proxy and have access in hard copy or electronic form to all documents which are required by the Statutes or these Articles to be made available at the meeting, and participate and participating in the business of a general meeting shall be construed accordingly; |
| (n) | references to electronic facilities include, without limitation, website addresses, webinars, webcast, video or any form of conference call systems (telephone, video, web or otherwise); and |
| (o) | where a Member is a corporation, any reference in these Articles to a Member shall, where the context requires, refer to a duly authorised representative of such Member. |
| 3. | Subject to the last two preceding Articles, any words defined in the Companies Act shall, if not inconsistent with the subject or context, bear the same meaning in these Articles. |
PRELIMINARY
| 4. | The business of the Company may be commenced as soon after incorporation as the Directors see fit, notwithstanding that only part of the shares may have been allotted or issued. |
| 5. | The registered office of the Company shall be at such address in the Cayman Islands as the Directors shall from time to time determine. The Company may in addition establish and maintain such other offices and places of business and agencies in such places as the Directors may from time to time determine. |
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SHARE CAPITAL
| 6. | The authorized share capital of the Company at the effective date of these Articles is US$3,000,000 divided into 3,000,000,000 shares, with a par value of US$0.001 each with power for the Company insofar as is permitted by law, to redeem or purchase any of its shares and to increase or reduce the said capital subject to the provisions of the Companies Act and these Articles and to issue any part of its capital, whether original, redeemed or increased with or without any preference, priority or special privilege or subject to any postponement of rights or to any conditions or restrictions and so that unless the conditions of issue shall otherwise expressly declare every issue of shares whether declared to be preference or otherwise shall be subject to the powers hereinbefore contained. |
ISSUE OF SHARES
| 7. | Subject to the provisions, if any, in that behalf in the Memorandum of Association and to any direction that may be given by the Company in a general meeting, the Directors may allot, issue, grant options over or otherwise dispose of shares of the Company (including fractions of a share) with or without preferred, deferred or other special rights or restrictions, whether in regard to dividend, voting, return of capital or otherwise and to such persons, at such times and on such other terms as they think proper. The Company shall not issue shares in bearer form. |
REGISTER OF MEMBERS AND SHARE CERTIFICATES
| 8. | The Company shall maintain a Register of its Members and every person whose name is entered as a member in the Register of Members shall, without payment, be entitled to a certificate within two months after allotment or lodgement of transfer (or within such other period as the conditions of issue shall provide) in the form determined by the Directors, if the Member requests a certificate. All certificates shall specify the share or shares held by that person, provided that in respect of a share or shares held jointly by several persons the Company shall not be bound to issue more than one certificate, and delivery of a certificate for a share to one of several joint holders shall be sufficient delivery to all. All certificates for shares shall be delivered personally or sent through the post addressed to the member entitled thereto at the Member’s registered address as appearing in the register. |
| 9. | Every share certificate of the Company shall bear legends required under the applicable laws, including the Securities Act. |
| 10. | Any two or more certificates representing shares of any one class held by any Member may at the Member’s request be cancelled and a single new certificate for such shares issued in lieu of payment (if the Directors shall so require) of US$1.00 or such smaller sum as the Directors shall determine. |
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| 11. | If a share certificate shall be damaged or defaced or alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, a new certificate representing the same shares may be issued to the relevant member upon request subject to delivery up of the old certificate or (if alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed) compliance with such conditions as to evidence and indemnity and the payment of out-of-pocket expenses of the Company in connection with the request as the Directors may think fit. |
| 12. | In the event that shares are held jointly by several persons, any request may be made by any one of the joint holders and if so made shall be binding on all of the joint holders. |
TRANSFER OF SHARES
| 13. (a) | Subject to these Articles, any Member may transfer all or any of his shares by an instrument of transfer in the usual or common form or in a form prescribed by the Designated Stock Exchange or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or in any other form approved by the Board and may be under hand or, if the transferor or transferee is a clearing house or its nominee(s), by hand or by machine imprinted signature or by such other manner of execution as the Board may approve from time to time. |
| (b) | The instrument of transfer shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor and the transferee provided that the Board may dispense with the execution of the instrument of transfer by the transferee in any case which it thinks fit in its discretion to do so. Without prejudice to the last preceding Article, the Board may also resolve, either generally or in any particular case, upon request by either the transferor or transferee, to accept mechanically executed transfers. The transferor shall be deemed to remain the holder of the share until the name of the transferee is entered in the Register in respect thereof. Nothing in these Articles shall preclude the Board from recognising a renunciation of the allotment or provisional allotment of any share by the allottee in favour of some other person. |
| (c) (i) | The Board may, in its absolute discretion, and without giving any reason therefor, refuse to register a transfer of any share (not being a fully paid up share) to a person of whom it does not approve, or any share issued under any share incentive scheme for employees upon which a restriction on transfer imposed thereby still subsists, and it may also, without prejudice to the foregoing generality, refuse to register a transfer of any share to more than four joint holders or a transfer of any share (not being a fully paid up share) on which the Company has a lien. |
| (ii) | The Board in so far as permitted by any applicable law may, in its absolute discretion, at any time and from time to time transfer any share upon the Register to any branch register or any share on any branch register to the Register or any other branch register. In the event of any such transfer, the shareholder requesting such transfer shall bear the cost of effecting the transfer unless the Board otherwise determines. |
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| (iii) | Unless the Board otherwise agrees (which agreement may be on such terms and subject to such conditions as the Board in its absolute discretion may from time to time determine, and which agreement the Board shall, without giving any reason therefor, be entitled in its absolute discretion to give or withhold), no shares upon the Register shall be transferred to any branch register nor shall shares on any branch register be transferred to the Register or any other branch register and all transfers and other documents of title shall be lodged for registration, and registered, in the case of any shares on a branch register, at the relevant Registration Office, and, in the case of any shares on the Register, at the Office or such other place at which the Register is kept in accordance with the Companies Act. |
| (d) | Without limiting the generality of the last preceding Article, the Board may decline to recognise any instrument of transfer unless:- |
| (i) | a fee of such maximum sum as the Designated Stock Exchange or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange may determine to be payable or such lesser sum as the Board may from time to time require is paid to the Company in respect thereof; |
| (ii) | the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of share; |
| (iii) | the instrument of transfer is lodged at the Office or such other place at which the Register is kept in accordance with the Companies Act or the Registration Office (as the case may be) accompanied by the relevant share certificate(s) and such other evidence as the Board may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer (and, if the instrument of transfer is executed by some other person on his behalf, the authority of that person so to do); and |
| (iv) | the instrument of transfer is duly and properly signed. |
| (e) | If the Board refuses to register a transfer of any share, it shall, within two months after the date on which the transfer was lodged with the Company, send to each of the transferor and transferee notice of the refusal. |
| 14. | The registration of transfers of shares or of any class of shares may, after notice has been given by advertisement in an appointed newspaper or any other newspapers or by electronic means for fourteen (14) days, or by any other means in accordance with the requirements of the Designated Stock Exchange or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to that effect be suspended at such times and for such periods (not exceeding in the whole thirty (30) days in any year) as the Board may determine. |
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REDEMPTION AND PURCHASE OF OWN SHARES
| 15. | Subject to the provisions of the Statutes and these Articles, the Company may: |
| (a) | issue shares on terms that they are to be redeemed or are liable to be redeemed at the option of the Company or the Member on such terms and in such manner as may by special resolution, before the issue of such shares, determine; |
| (b) | purchase its own shares (including any redeemable shares) on such terms and in such manner as the Directors may determine; and |
| (c) | make a payment in respect of the redemption or purchase of its own shares otherwise than out of profits or the proceeds of a fresh issue of shares. |
| 16. | Any share in respect of which notice of redemption has been given shall not be entitled to participate in the profits of the Company in respect of the period after the date specified as the date of redemption in the notice of redemption. |
| 17. | The redemption or purchase of any share shall not be deemed to give rise to the redemption or purchase of any other share. |
| 18. | The Directors may when making payments in respect of redemption or purchase of shares, if authorized by the terms of issue of the shares being redeemed or purchased or with the agreement of the holder of such shares, make such payment in any form of consideration. |
VARIATION OF RIGHTS ATTACHING TO SHARES
| 19. | If at any time the share capital is divided into different classes of shares, the rights attaching to any class (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class) may, subject to these Articles, be varied or abrogated with the consent in writing of the holders of two-thirds of the issued shares of that class, or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a general meeting of the holders of the shares of that class. |
| 20. | The provisions of these Articles relating to general meetings shall apply to every such general meeting of the holders of one class of shares except that the necessary quorum shall be one person holding or representing by proxy at least one-third of the issued shares of the class and that any holder of shares of the class present in person or by proxy may demand a poll. |
| 21. | The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class issued with preferred or other rights shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further shares ranking pari passu therewith. |
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COMMISSION ON SALE OF SHARES
| 22. | The Company may in so far as the Statutes from time to time permit pay a commission to any person in consideration of his subscribing or agreeing to subscribe whether absolutely or conditionally for any shares of the Company. Such commissions may be satisfied by the payment of cash or the lodgement of fully or partly paid-up shares or partly in one way and partly in the other. The Company may also on any issue of shares pay such brokerage as may be lawful. |
NON-RECOGNITION OF TRUSTS
| 23. | No person shall be recognised by the Company as holding any share upon any trust and the Company shall not be bound by or be compelled in any way to recognise (even when having notice thereof) any equitable, contingent, future, or partial interest in any share, or any interest in any fractional part of a share, or (except only as is otherwise provided by these Articles or the Statutes) any other rights in respect of any share except an absolute right to the entirety thereof in the registered holder. |
LIEN ON SHARES
| 24. | The Company shall have a first and paramount lien and charge on all shares (whether fully paid-up or not) registered in the name of a Member (whether solely or jointly with others) for all debts, liabilities or engagements to or with the Company (whether presently payable or not) by such Member or his estate, either alone or jointly with any other person, whether a Member or not, but the Directors may at any time declare any share to be wholly or in part exempt from the provisions of this Article. The registration of a transfer of any such share shall operate as a waiver of the Company’s lien (if any) thereon. The Company’s lien (if any) on a share shall extend to all dividends or other monies payable in respect thereof. |
| 25. | The Company may sell, in such manner as the Directors think fit, any shares on which the Company has a lien, but no sale shall be made unless some sum in respect of which the lien exists is presently payable nor until the expiration of 14 days after a notice in writing, stating and demanding payment of such part of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently payable, has been given to the registered holder for the time being of the share, or the persons entitled thereto by reason of his death or bankruptcy. |
| 26. | For giving effect to any such sale the Directors may authorise some person to transfer the shares sold to the purchaser thereof. The purchaser shall be registered as the holder of the shares comprised in any such transfer and he shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, nor shall his title to the shares be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference to the sale. |
| 27. | The proceeds of the sale shall be received by the Company and applied in payment of such part of the amount in respect of which the lien exists as is presently payable, and the residue shall (subject to a like lien for sums not presently payable as existed upon the shares prior to the sale) be paid to the person entitled to the shares at the date of the sale. |
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CALLS ON SHARES
| 28. | The Directors may from time to time make calls upon the Members in respect of any money unpaid on their shares, and each member shall (subject to receiving at least 14 days notice specifying the time or times of payment) pay to the Company at the time or times so specified the amount called on his shares. A call shall be deemed to have been made at the time when the resolution of the Directors authorising such call was passed. |
| 29. | The joint holders of a share shall be jointly and severally liable to pay calls in respect thereof. |
| 30. | If a sum called in respect of a share is not paid before or on the day appointed for payment thereof, the person from whom the sum is due shall pay interest upon the sum at the rate of eight percent per annum from the day appointed for the payment thereof to the time of the actual payment, but the Directors shall be at liberty to waive payment of that interest wholly or in part. |
| 31. | The provisions of these Articles as to the liability of joint holders and as to payment of interest shall apply in the case of non-payment of any sum which, by the terms of issue of a share, becomes payable at a fixed time, whether on account of the amount of the share, or by way of premium, as if the same had become payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified. |
| 32. | The Directors may make arrangements on the issue of shares for a difference between the Members, or the particular shares, in the amount of calls to be paid and in the times of payment. |
| 33. | The Directors may, if they think fit, receive from any member willing to advance the same all or any part of the moneys uncalled and unpaid upon any shares held by him, and upon all or any of the moneys so advanced may (until the same would, but for such advance, become presently payable) pay interest at such rate (not exceeding without the sanction of an Ordinary Resolution, eight percent. per annum) as may be agreed upon between the Member paying the sum in advance and the Directors. No such sum paid in advance of calls shall entitle the member paying such sum to any portion of a dividend declared in respect of any period prior to the date upon which such sum would, but for such payment, become presently payable. |
FORFEITURE OF SHARES
| 34. | If a Member fails to pay any call or instalment of a call on the day appointed for payment thereof, the Directors may, at any time thereafter during such time as any part of such call or instalment remains unpaid, serve a notice on him requiring payment of such much of the call or instalment as is unpaid, together with any interest which may have accrued. |
| 35. | The notice shall name a further day (not earlier than the expiration of 14 days from the date of the notice) on or before which the payment required by the notice is to be made, and shall state that in the event of non-payment at or before the time appointed the shares in respect of which the call was made will be liable to be forfeited. |
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| 36. | If the requirements of any such notice as aforesaid are not complied with, any share in respect of which the notice has been given may at any time thereafter, before the payment required by notice has been made, be forfeited by a resolution of the Directors to that effect. |
| 37. | A forfeited share may be sold or otherwise disposed of on such terms and in such manner as the Directors think fit, and at any time before a sale or disposition the forfeiture may be cancelled on such terms as the Directors think fit. |
| 38. | A person whose shares have been forfeited shall cease to be a Member in respect of the forfeited shares, but shall, notwithstanding, remain liable to pay to the Company all moneys which at the date of forfeiture were payable by him to the Company in respect of the shares, but his liability shall cease if and when the Company receives payment in full of the fully paid up amount of the shares. |
| 39. | A statutory declaration in writing that the declarant is a Director of the Company, and that a share in the Company has been duly forfeited on a date stated in the declaration, shall be conclusive evidence of the facts therein stated as against all persons claiming to be entitled to the share. The Company may receive the consideration, if any, given for the share or any sale or disposition thereof and may execute a transfer of the share in favour of the person to whom the share is sold or disposed of and he shall thereupon be registered as the holder of the share, and shall not be bound to see to the application of the purchase money, if any, nor shall his title to the share be affected by any irregularity or invalidity in the proceedings in reference to the forfeiture, sale or disposal of the share. |
| 40. | The provisions of these Articles as to forfeiture shall apply in the case of non-payment of any sum which by the terms of issue of a share becomes due and payable, whether on account of the amount of the share, or by way of premium, as if the same had been payable by virtue of a call duly made and notified. |
REGISTRATION OF EMPOWERING INSTRUMENTS
| 41. | The Company shall be entitled to charge a fee not exceeding one dollar (US$1.00) on the registration of every probate, letters of administration, certificate of death or marriage, power of attorney, notice in lieu of distringas, or other instrument. |
TRANSMISSION OF SHARES
| 42. | The legal personal representative of a deceased sole holder of a share shall be the only person recognised by the Company as having any title to the share. In the case of a share registered in the name of two or more holders, the survivors or survivor, or the legal personal representatives of the deceased survivor, shall be the only person recognised by the Company as having any title to the share. |
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| 43. | Any person becoming entitled to a share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a Member shall upon such evidence being produced as may from time to time be properly required by the Directors, have the right either to be registered as a member in respect of the share or, instead of being registered himself, to make such transfer of the share as the deceased or bankrupt person could have made. If the person so becoming entitled shall elect to be registered himself as holder he shall deliver or send to the Company a notice in writing signed by him stating that he so elects. |
| 44. | A person becoming entitled to a share by reason of the death or bankruptcy of the holder shall be entitled to the same dividends and other advantages to which he would be entitled if he were the registered holder of the share, except that he shall not, before being registered as a Member in respect of the share, be entitled in respect of it to exercise any right conferred by membership in relation to meetings of the Company, provided however, that the Directors may at any time give notice requiring any such person to elect either to be registered himself or to transfer the share, and if the notice is not complied with within ninety days, the Directors may thereafter withhold payment of all dividends, bonuses or other monies payable in respect of the share until the requirements of the notice have been complied with. |
ALTERATION OF CAPITAL
| 45. | Subject to these Articles, the Company may from time to time by Ordinary Resolution increase the share capital by such sum, to be divided into shares of such classes and amount, as the resolution shall prescribe. |
| 46. | Subject to these Articles, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution: |
| (a) | consolidate and divide all or any of its share capital into shares of larger amount than its existing shares; |
| (b) | sub-divide its existing shares, or any of them into shares of a smaller amount provided that in the subdivision the proportion between the amount paid and the amount, if any unpaid on each reduced share shall be the same as it was in case of the share from which the reduced share is derived; |
| (c) | cancel any shares which, at the date of the passing of the resolution, have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person and diminish the amount of its share capital by the amount of the shares so cancelled. |
| 47. | The Company may by Special Resolution reduce its share capital and any capital redemption reserve in any manner authorized by law. |
| 48. | All new shares created hereunder shall be subject to the same provisions with reference to the payment of calls, liens, transfer, transmission, forfeiture and otherwise as the shares in the original share capital. |
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CLOSING REGISTER OF MEMBERS OR FIXING RECORD DATE
| 49. | For the purpose of determining those Members that are entitled to receive notice of, attend or vote at any meeting of Members or any adjournment thereof, or those Members that are entitled to receive payment of any dividend, or in order to make a determination as to who is a Member for any other purpose, the Directors may provide that the Register of Members shall be closed for transfers for a stated period but not to exceed in any case 40 days. If the Register of Members shall be so closed for the purpose of determining those Members that are entitled to receive notice of, attend or vote at a meeting of Members such register shall be so closed for at least 10 days immediately preceding such meeting and the record date for such determination shall be the date of the closure of the Register of Members. |
| 50. | In lieu of or apart from closing the Register of Members, the Directors may fix in advance a date as the record date for any such determination of those Members that are entitled to receive notice of, attend or vote at a meeting of the Members and for the purpose of determining those Members that are entitled to receive payment of any dividend the Directors may, at or within 90 days prior to the date of declaration of such dividend fix a subsequent date as the record date of such determination. |
| 51. | If the Register of Members is not so closed and no record date is fixed for the determination of those Members entitled to receive notice of, attend or vote at a meeting of Members or those Members that are entitled to receive payment of a dividend, the date on which notice of the meeting is posted or the date on which the resolution of the Directors declaring such dividend is adopted, as the case may be, shall be the record date for such determination of Members. When a determination of those Members that are entitled to receive notice of, attend or vote at a meeting of Members has been made as provided in this section, such determination shall apply to any adjournment thereof. |
GENERAL MEETINGS
| 52. | All general meetings other than annual general meetings shall be called extraordinary general meetings. All general meetings (including annual general meeting, any adjourned meeting or postponed meeting) may be held as a physical meeting, as a hybrid meeting or as an electronic meeting, as may be determined by the Board in its absolute discretion. |
| 53. (a) | The Company shall, if required by the Companies Act or, for as long as the shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and if required by the Listing Rules, in each year hold a general meeting as its annual general meeting and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it. For as long as the shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and if required by the Listing Rules, the annual general meeting shall be held for each financial year and such annual general meeting shall be held within six (6) months after the end of the Company’s financial year (unless otherwise permitted by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) at such time and place as may be determined by the Directors. |
| (b) | The Company may hold an annual general meeting but shall not (unless required by the Companies Act or the Listing Rules) be obliged to hold an annual general meeting. |
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| 54. (a) | The Directors may call general meetings, and they shall on a Members requisition forthwith proceed to convene an extraordinary general meeting of the Company. |
| (b) | A Members requisition to convene an extraordinary general meeting and add resolutions to a meeting agenda is a requisition of Members of the Company holding at the date of deposit of the requisition (i) not less than 10%, on a one vote per share basis, for as long as the shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, or (ii) otherwise not less than 33%, of the share capital of the Company as at that date carries the right of voting at general meetings of the Company. |
| (c) | The requisition must state the objects of the meeting and must be signed by the requisitionists and deposited at the Registered Office, and may consist of several documents in like form each signed by one or more requisitionists. |
| (d) | If the Directors do not within twenty-one days from the date of the deposit of the requisition duly proceed to convene a general meeting to be held within a further twenty-one days, the requisitionists, or any of them representing more than one half of the total voting rights of all of them, may themselves convene a physical meeting at only one location which will be the principal place of the meeting, but any meeting so convened shall not be held after the expiration of one month after the expiration of the second said twenty one days. |
| (e) | A general meeting convened as aforesaid by requisitionists shall be convened in the same manner as nearly as possible as that in which general meetings are to be convened by Directors. |
NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETINGS
| 55. (i) | An annual general meeting shall be called by at least 21 days’ notice in writing and any other general meeting (including an extraordinary general meeting) shall be called by at least 14 days’ notice in writing for as long as the Shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, or (ii) otherwise at least seven business days’ notice shall be given for any general meeting, and (iii) without prejudice to Articles 58 and 61, any supplemental or revised Notice shall be given to Members by at least 10 business days’ (referring to Hong Kong business days) notice in writing for as long as the Shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Every Notice shall specify at a minimum: (a) in the case of a physical meeting or a hybrid meeting, the principal place of the meeting, and in the case of a hybrid meeting or an electronic meeting, the details of the electronic facilities for attendance and participation by electronic means at the meeting or where such details will be made available by the Company prior to the meeting, (b) the day and the hour of the meeting, and (c) the general nature of the business proposed to be discussed at the meeting, and shall be given in the manner hereinafter mentioned or in such other manner if any as may be prescribed by the Company, provided that a general meeting of the Company shall, whether or not the notice specified in this regulation has been given and whether or not the provisions of Articles regarding general meetings have been complied with, be deemed to have been duly convened if it is so agreed: |
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| (a) | in the case of an annual general meeting by all the Members (or their proxies) entitled to attend and vote thereat; and |
| (b) | in the case of an extraordinary general meeting by a majority in number of the Members (or their proxies) having a right to attend and vote at the meeting, being a majority together holding not less than ninety five per cent in par value of the shares giving that right. |
| 56. | The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting to or the non-receipt of a notice of a meeting by any Member shall not invalidate the proceedings at any meeting. |
PROCEEDINGS AT GENERAL MEETINGS
| 57. | No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum of Members is present at the time when the meeting proceeds to business. At least two shareholders which hold an aggregate of (i) at least one-tenth of the voting share capital, for as long as the shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, or (ii) otherwise at least one-third of the voting share capital, present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote shall be a quorum for all purposes. A person may participate at a general meeting by conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all the persons participating in the meeting can communicate with each other. Participation by a person in a general meeting in this manner is treated as presence in person at that meeting. |
| 58. | If within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened upon the requisition of Members, shall be dissolved. In any other case it shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week, at the same time and place, and if at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting the Member or Members present and entitled to vote shall be a quorum. |
| 59. | The Chairman of the Board of Directors, or any one director or officer of the Company as the Directors may from time to time by resolution of the Board of Directors determine, shall preside as chairman at every general meeting of the Company. If the chairman of a general meeting held in any form is participating in the general meeting using an electronic facility or facilities which is hereby permitted and becomes unable to participate in the general meeting using such electronic facility or facilities, another person (determined in accordance with these Articles) shall preside as chairman of the meeting unless and until the original chairman of the meeting is able to participate in the general meeting using the electronic facility or facilities. |
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| 60. | If at any meeting no chairman is present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, or is willing to act as chairman, the Directors present shall choose one of their number to act, or if one Director only is present he shall preside as chairman if willing to act. If no Director is present, or if each of the Directors present declines to take the chair, or if the chairman chosen shall retire from the chair, the Members present in person or (in the case of a Member being a corporation) by its duly authorised representative or by proxy and entitled to vote shall elect one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
| 61. | The chairman may (without the consent of the meeting) or shall at the direction of the meeting, adjourn the meeting from time to time (or indefinitely) and/or from place to place(s) and/or from one form to another (a physical meeting, a hybrid meeting or an electronic meeting), but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. When a meeting is adjourned for 10 days or more, not less than seven business days’ notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of an original meeting. Save as aforesaid it shall not be necessary to give any notice of an adjournment or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned meeting. |
| 62. | At any general meeting a resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided on a show of hands, unless a poll is (before or on the declaration of the result of the show of hands) demanded by the Chairman or any shareholder present in person or by proxy entitled to vote and who hold at least 10 per cent of the paid up voting share capital of the Company, and unless a poll is so demanded, a declaration by the chairman that a resolution has, on a show of hands, been carried, or carried unanimously, or by a particular majority, or lost, and an entry to that effect in the book of the proceedings of the Company, shall be conclusive evidence of the fact, without proof of the number or proportion of the votes recorded in favour of, or against, that resolution. Votes (whether on a show of hands or by way of poll) may be cast by such means, electronic or otherwise, as the Directors or the chairman of the meeting may determine. |
| 63. | If a poll is duly demanded it shall be taken in such manner as the Chairman directs, and the result of the poll shall be deemed to be the resolution of the meeting at which the poll was demanded. The demand for a poll may be withdrawn. |
| 64. | In the case of an equality of votes, whether on a show of hands or on a poll, the chairman of the meeting at which the show of hands takes place or at which the poll is demanded, shall not be entitled to a second or casting vote. |
| 65. | A poll demanded on the election of a chairman or on a question of adjournment shall be taken forthwith. A poll demanded on any other question shall be taken at such time as the chairman of the meeting directs. |
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VOTES OF MEMBERS
| 66. (1) | Subject to any rights and restrictions for the time being attached to any class or classes of shares (including, for as long as the shares remain listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, applicable rules under the Listing Rules (unless otherwise waived)), every Member present in person and every person representing a Member by proxy at a general meeting of the Company shall have one vote for each share registered in his name in the Register of Members. |
| (2) | All Members shall have the right to (a) speak at a general meeting; and (b) vote at a general meeting except where, for so long as the Company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, a Member is required, by the Listing Rules, to abstain from voting to approve the matter under consideration. |
| 67. | In the case of joint holders the vote of the senior who tenders a vote whether in person or by proxy shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the joint holders and for this purpose seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names stand in the Register of Members. |
| 68. | A Member of unsound mind, or in respect of whom an order has been made by any court having jurisdiction in lunacy, may vote, whether on a show of hands or on a poll, by his committee, or other person in the nature of a committee appointed by that court, and any such committee or other person, may on a poll, vote by proxy. |
| 69. | No Member shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting unless all calls or other sums presently payable by him in respect of shares in the Company have been paid. For so long as the Company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where any Member is, under the rules of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, required to abstain from voting on any particular resolution or restricted to voting only for or only against any particular resolution, any votes cast by or on behalf of such Member in contravention of such requirement or restriction shall not be counted. |
| 70. | On a poll, votes may be given either personally or by proxy. |
| 71. | The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the appointor or of his attorney duly authorized in writing or, if the appointor is a corporation, either under seal or under the hand of an officer or attorney duly authorized. A proxy need not be a Member of the Company. |
| 72. (1) | An instrument appointing a proxy may be in any usual or common form or such other form as the Directors may approve. The Board may decide, either generally or in any particular case, to treat a proxy appointment as valid notwithstanding that the appointment or any of the information required under these Articles has not been received in accordance with the requirements of these Articles. Subject to the aforesaid, if the proxy appointment and any of the information required under these Articles is not received in the manner set out in these Articles, the appointee shall not be entitled to vote in respect of the shares in question. |
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| (2) | The Company may, at its absolute discretion, provide an electronic address for the receipt of any document or information relating to proxies for a general meeting (including any instrument of proxy or invitation to appoint a proxy, any document necessary to show the validity of, or otherwise relating to, an appointment of proxy (whether or not required under these Articles) and notice of termination of the authority of a proxy). If such an electronic address is provided, the Company shall be deemed to have agreed that any such document or information (relating to proxies as aforesaid) may be sent by electronic means to that address, subject as hereafter provided and subject to any other limitations or conditions specified by the Company when providing the address. Without limitation, the Company may from time to time determine that any such electronic address may be used generally for such matters or specifically for particular meetings or purposes and, if so, the Company may provide different electronic addresses for different purposes. The Company may also impose any conditions on the transmission of and its receipt of such electronic communications including, for the avoidance of doubt, imposing any security or encryption arrangements as may be specified by the Company. If any document or information required to be sent to the Company under this Article is sent to the Company by electronic means, such document or information is not treated as validly delivered to or deposited with the Company if the same is not received by the Company at its designated electronic address provided in accordance with this Article or if no electronic address is so designated by the Company for the receipt of such document or information. |
| 73. | The instrument appointing a proxy shall be deemed to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll. |
| 74. | A resolution in writing signed by all the Members for the time being entitled to receive notice of and to attend and vote at general meetings (or being corporations by their duly authorized representatives) shall be as valid and effective as if the same had been passed at a general meeting of the Company duly convened and held. |
CORPORATIONS ACTING BY REPRESENTATIVES AT MEETING
| 75. | Any corporation which is a Member or a Director may by resolution of its directors or other governing body authorise such person as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of the Company or of any class of Members or of the Board of Directors or of a committee of Directors, and the person so authorized shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the corporation which he represents as that corporation could exercise if it were an individual Member or Director. |
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CLEARING HOUSES
| 76. | If a clearing house (or its nominee) is a member of the Company it may, by resolution of its directors or other governing body or by power of attorney, authorise such person or persons as it thinks fit to act as its representative or representatives at any general meeting of the Company or at any general meeting of any class of members of the Company provided that, if more than one person is so authorized, the authorisation shall specify the number and class of shares in respect of which each such person is so authorized. A person so authorized pursuant to this provision shall be entitled to exercise the same powers on behalf of the clearing house (or its nominee) which he represents as that clearing house (or its nominee) could exercise if it were an individual member of the Company holding the number and class of shares specified in such authorization, including the right to speak and the right to vote individually on a show of hands. |
DIRECTORS
| 77. (A) | Unless otherwise determined by the Company in general meeting, the number of Directors shall not be less than three Directors. The Directors shall be elected or appointed in the first place by the subscribers to the Memorandum of Association or by a majority of them and thereafter by the Members at general meeting. |
| (B) | Each Director shall hold office until the expiration of his term. |
| (C) | The Board of Directors shall have a Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Chairman”) elected and appointed by a majority of the Directors then in office. The Directors may also elect a Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors (the “Vice- Chairman”). The Chairman shall preside as chairman at every meeting of the Board of Directors. To the extent the Chairman is not present at a meeting of the Board of Directors, the Vice-Chairman, or in his absence, the attending Directors may choose one Director to be the chairman of the meeting. The Chairman’s voting right as to the matters to be decided by the Board of Directors shall be the same as other Directors. |
| (D) | Subject to these Articles and the Companies Act, the Company may by Ordinary Resolution elect any person to be a Director either to fill a casual vacancy on the Board or as an addition to the existing Board. For so long as the Company is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, any Director so appointed shall hold office only until the first annual general meeting of the Company after his appointment and shall then be eligible for re-election at that meeting; and in the event the Company is no longer listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, such Director shall hold office for such term as determined by the Board. |
| (E) | Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Directors by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the remaining Directors present and voting at a Board meeting shall have the power from time to time and at any time to appoint any person as a Director to fill a casual vacancy on the Board or as an addition to the existing Board. |
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| 78. | Subject to Article 77, a Director may be removed from office by Ordinary Resolution at any time before the expiration of his term notwithstanding anything in these Articles or in any agreement between the Company and such Director (but without prejudice to any claim for damages under such agreement). |
| 79. | A vacancy on the Board created by the removal of a Director under the provisions of Article 78 above may be filled by the election or appointment by Ordinary Resolution at the meeting at which such Director is removed or by the affirmative vote of a simple majority of the remaining Directors present and voting at a Board meeting. |
| 80. | The Board may, from time to time, and except as required by applicable law or the listing rules of the recognized stock exchange or automated quotation system where the Company’s securities are traded, adopt, institute, amend, modify or revoke the corporate governance policies or initiatives, which shall be intended to set forth the policies of the Company and the Board on various corporate governance related matters as the Board shall determine by resolution from time to time. |
| 81. | A Director shall not be required to hold any shares in the Company by way of qualification. A Director who is not a member of the Company shall nevertheless be entitled to receive notice of and to attend and speak at general meetings of the Company and all classes of shares of the Company. |
DIRECTORS’ FEES AND EXPENSES
| 82. | The Directors may receive such remuneration as the Board may from time to time determine. The Directors may be entitled to be repaid all travelling, hotel and incidental expenses reasonably incurred or expected to be incurred by him in attending meetings of the Board or committees of the Board or general meetings or separate meetings of any class of shares or of debentures of the Company or otherwise in connection with the discharge of his duties as a Director. |
| 83. | Any Director who, by request, goes or resides abroad for any purpose of the Company or who performs services which in the opinion of the Board go beyond the ordinary duties of a Director may be paid such extra remuneration (whether by way of salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise) as the Board may determine and such extra remuneration shall be in addition to or in substitution for any ordinary remuneration provided for by or pursuant to any other Article. |
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ALTERNATE DIRECTOR
| 84. | Any Director may in writing appoint another person to be his alternate to act in his place at any meeting of the Directors at which he is unable to be present. Every such alternate shall be entitled to notice of meetings of the Directors and to attend and vote thereat as a Director when the person appointing him is not personally present and where he is a Director to have a separate vote on behalf of the Director he is representing in addition to his own vote. A Director may at any time in writing revoke the appointment of an alternate appointed by him. Such alternate shall not be an officer of the Company and shall be deemed to be the agent of the Director appointing him. |
| 85. | Any Director may appoint any person, whether or not a Director, to be the proxy of that Director to attend and vote on his behalf, in accordance with instructions given by that Director, or in the absence of such instructions at the discretion of the proxy, at a meeting or meetings of the Directors which that Director is unable to attend personally. The instrument appointing the proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the appointing Director and shall be in any usual or common form or such other form as the Directors may approve, and must be lodged with the chairman of the meeting of the Directors at which such proxy is to be used, or first used, prior to the commencement of the meeting. |
POWERS AND DUTIES OF DIRECTORS
| 86. | Subject to the provisions of the Companies Act, these Articles and to any resolutions made in a general meeting, the business of the Company shall be managed by the Directors, who may pay all expenses incurred in setting up and registering the Company and may exercise all powers of the Company. No resolution made by the Company in a general meeting shall invalidate any prior act of the Directors that would have been valid if that resolution had not been made. |
| 87. | Subject to these Articles, the Directors may from time to time appoint any person, whether or not a director of the Company to hold such office in the Company as the Directors may think necessary for the administration of the Company, including without prejudice to the foregoing generality, the office of the Chief Executive Officer, one or more Vice Presidents, Chief Financial Officer, Manager or Controller, and for such term and at such remuneration (whether by way of salary or commission or participation in profits or partly in one way and partly in another), and with such powers and duties as the Directors may think fit. The Directors may also appoint one or more of their number to the office of Managing Director upon like terms, but any such appointment shall ipso facto determine if any Managing Director ceases from any cause to be a Director, or if the Company by Ordinary Resolution resolves that his tenure of office be terminated. |
| 88. | The Directors may delegate any of their powers to committees consisting of such member or members of their body as they think fit; any committee so formed shall in the exercise of the powers so delegated conform to any regulations that may be imposed on it by the Directors. |
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| 89. | The Directors may from time to time and at any time by power of attorney appoint any company, firm or person or body of persons, whether nominated directly or indirectly by the Directors, to be the attorney or attorneys of the Company for such purposes and with such powers, authorities and discretion (not exceeding those vested in or exercisable by the Directors under these Articles) and for such period and subject to such conditions as they may think fit, and any such power of attorney may contain such provisions for the protection and convenience of persons dealing with any such attorney as the Directors may think fit, and may also authorise any such attorney to delegate all or any of the powers, authorities and discretion vested in him. |
| 90. | The Directors may from time to time provide for the management of the affairs of the Company in such manner as they shall think fit and the provisions contained in the following paragraphs shall be without prejudice to the general powers conferred by this paragraph. |
| 91. | The Directors from time to time and at any time may establish any committees, local boards or agencies for managing any of the affairs of the Company and may appoint any persons to be members of such committees or local boards and may appoint any managers or agents of the Company and may fix the remuneration of any of the aforesaid. |
| 92. | The Directors from time to time and at any time may delegate to any such committee, local board, manager or agent any of the powers, authorities and discretions for the time being vested in the Directors and may authorise the members for the time being of any such local board, or any of them to fill up any vacancies therein and to act notwithstanding vacancies and any such appointment or delegation may be made on such terms and subject to such conditions as the Directors may think fit and the Directors may at any time remove any person so appointed and may annul or vary any such delegation, but no person dealing in good faith and without notice of any such annulment or variation shall be affected thereby. |
| 93. | Any such delegates as aforesaid may be authorized by the Directors to subdelegate all or any of the powers, authorities, and discretions for the time being vested to them. |
| 94. | The Directors may exercise all the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge its undertaking, property and uncalled capital or any part thereof, to issue debentures, debenture stock and other securities whenever money is borrowed or as security for any debt, liability or obligation of the Company or of any third party. |
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DISQUALIFICATION OF DIRECTORS
| 95. | Subject to Article 77, the office of Director shall be vacated, if the Director: |
| (a) | becomes bankrupt or makes any arrangement or composition with his creditors; |
| (b) | is found to be or becomes of unsound mind; |
| (c) | resigns his office by notice in writing to the Company; |
| (d) | without special leave of absence from the Board, is absent from meetings of the Board for six consecutive months and the Board resolves that his office be vacated; or |
| (e) | if he or she shall be removed from office pursuant to these Articles or the Statutes. |
PROCEEDINGS OF DIRECTORS
| 96. | Subject to Article 77, the Directors may meet together (whether within or outside the Cayman Islands) for the dispatch of business, adjourn, and otherwise regulate their meetings and proceedings as they think fit. Questions arising at any meeting of the Directors shall be decided by a majority of votes. In case of an equality of votes the chairman shall not have a second or casting vote. A Director may at any time summon a meeting of the Directors by (i) at least two days’ notice in writing to every other Director or his alternate Director where an alternate Director is so appointed, or (ii) a shorter period of time if agreed by every other Director or his alternate Director where an alternate Director is so appointed. Notice of a meeting of the Board shall be deemed to be duly given to a Director if it is given to such Director in writing or verbally (including in person or by telephone) or by electronic means to an electronic address from time to time notified to the Company by such Director or (if the recipient consents to it being made available on a website) by making it available on a website or by telephone or in such other manner as the Board may from time to time determine. |
| 97. | A Director or Directors may participate in any meeting of the Board of Directors, or of any committee appointed by the Board of Directors of which such Director or Directors are members, by means of telephone or similar communication equipment by way of which all persons participating in such meeting can hear each other and such participation shall be deemed to constitute presence in person at the meeting. |
| 98. | The quorum necessary for the transaction of the business of the Directors may be fixed by the Directors and unless so fixed shall be a majority in number, of the Directors then serving on the Board, provided that a Director and his appointed alternate Director shall be considered only one person for this purpose. A meeting of the Directors at which a quorum is present when the meeting proceeds to business shall be competent to exercise all powers and discretions for the time being exercisable by the Directors. A meeting of the Directors may be held by means of telephone or teleconferencing or any other telecommunications facility provided that all participants are thereby able to communicate immediately by voice with all other participants. |
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| 99. | Subject to Article 77, a Director who is in any way, whether directly or indirectly, interested in a contract or proposed contract with the Company shall declare the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Directors. A general notice given to the Directors by any Director to the effect that he is a member of any specified company or firm and is to be regarded as interested in any contract which may thereafter be made with that company or firm shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of interest in regard to any contract so made. A Director may vote in respect of any contract or proposed contract or arrangement notwithstanding that he may be interested therein and if he does so his vote shall be counted and he may be counted in the quorum at any meeting of the Directors at which any such contract or proposed contract or arrangement shall come before the meeting for consideration. |
| 100. | A Director may hold any other office or place of profit under the Company (other than the office of auditor) in conjunction with his office of Director for such period and on such terms (as to remuneration and otherwise) as the Directors may determine and no Director or intending Director shall be disqualified by his office from contracting with the Company either with regard to his tenure of any such other office or place of profit or as vendor, purchaser or otherwise, nor shall any such contract or arrangement entered into by or on behalf of the Company in which any Director is in any way interested, be liable to be avoided, nor shall any Director so contracting or being so interested be liable to account to the Company for any profit realised by any such contract or arrangement by reason of such Director holding that office or of the fiduciary relation thereby established. A Director, notwithstanding his interest, may be counted in the quorum present at any meeting whereat he or any other Director is appointed to hold any such office or place of profit under the Company or whereat the terms of any such appointment are arranged and he may vote on any such appointment or arrangement. |
| 101. | Any Director may act by himself or his firm in a professional capacity for the Company, and he or his firm shall be entitled to remuneration for professional services as if he were not a Director; provided that nothing herein contained shall authorise a Director or his firm to act as auditor to the Company. |
102. The Directors shall cause minutes to be made in books or loose-leaf folders provided for the purpose of recording:
| (a) | all appointments of officers made by the Directors; |
| (b) | the names of the Directors present at each meeting of the Directors and of any committee of the Directors; and |
| (c) | all resolutions and proceedings at all meetings of the Company, and of the Directors and of committees of Directors. |
| 103. | When the chairman of a meeting of the Directors signs the minutes of such meeting the same shall be deemed to have been duly held notwithstanding that all the Directors have not actually come together or that there may have been a technical defect in the proceedings. |
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| 104. | A resolution signed by all the Directors shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the Directors duly called and constituted. When signed a resolution may consist of several documents each signed by one or more of the Directors. |
| 105. | The continuing Directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body but if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant to these Articles as the necessary quorum of Directors, the continuing Directors may act for the purpose of increasing the number, or of summoning a general meeting of the Company, but for no other purpose. |
| 106. | The Directors shall elect a chairman of their meetings and determine the period for which he is to hold office but if at any meeting the chairman is not present within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for holding the same, the Directors present may choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
| 107. | A committee appointed by the Directors may elect a chairman of its meetings. If no such chairman is elected, or if at any meeting the chairman is not present within five minutes after the time appointed for holding the same, the members present may choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
| 108. | A committee appointed by the Directors may meet and adjourn as it thinks proper. Questions arising at any meeting shall be determined by a majority of votes of the committee members present and in case of an equality of votes the chairman shall have a second or casting vote. |
| 109. | All acts done by any meeting of the Directors or of a committee of Directors, or by any person acting as a Director, shall notwithstanding that it be afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such Director or person acting as aforesaid, or that they or any of them were disqualified, be as valid as if every such person had been duly appointed and was qualified to be a Director. |
PRESUMPTION OF ASSENT
| 110. | A Director of the Company who is present at a meeting of the Board of Directors at which action on any Company matter is taken shall be presumed to have assented to the action taken unless his dissent shall be entered in the Minutes of the meeting or unless he shall file his written dissent from such action with the person acting as the Chairman or Secretary of the meeting before the adjournment thereof or shall forward such dissent by registered post to such person immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. Such right to dissent shall not apply to a Director who voted in favour of such action. |
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND RESERVE
| 111. | Subject to any rights and restrictions for the time being attached to any class or classes of shares and these Articles, the Directors may from time to time declare dividends (including interim dividends) and other distributions on shares in issue and authorise payment of the same out of the funds of the Company lawfully available therefor. |
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| 112. | Subject to any rights and restrictions for the time being attached to any class or classes of shares and these Articles, the Company by Ordinary Resolution may declare dividends, but no dividend shall exceed the amount recommended by the Directors. |
| 113. | The Directors may, before recommending or declaring any dividend, set aside out of the funds legally available for distribution such sums as they think proper as a reserve or reserves which shall, at the discretion of the Directors be applicable for meeting contingencies, or for equalising dividends or for any other purpose to which those funds be properly applied and pending such application may, at the like discretion, either be employed in the business of the Company or be invested in such investments (other than shares of the Company) as the Directors may from time to time think fit. |
| 114. | Any dividend may be paid by cheque or warrant sent through the post to the registered address of the Member or person entitled thereto, or in the case of joint holders, to any one of such joint holders at his registered address or to such person and such address as the Member or person entitled, or such joint holders as the case may be, may direct. Every such cheque or warrant shall be made payable to the order of the person to whom it is sent or to the order of such other person as the Member or person entitled, or such joint holders as the case may be, may direct. |
| 115. | The Directors when paying dividends to the Members in accordance with the foregoing provisions may make such payment either in cash or in specie. |
| 116. | No dividend shall be paid otherwise than out of profits or, subject to the restrictions of the Companies Act, the share premium account. |
| 117. | Subject to the rights of persons, if any, entitled to shares with special rights as to dividends, all dividends shall be declared and paid according to the amounts paid or credited as fully paid on the shares, but if and so long as nothing is paid up on any of the shares in the Company dividends may be declared and paid according to the amounts of the shares. No amount paid on a share in advance of calls shall, while carrying interest, be treated for the purposes of this Article as paid on the share. |
| 118. | If several persons are registered as joint holders of any share, any of them may give effectual receipts for any dividend or other moneys payable on or in respect of the share. |
| 119. | No dividend shall bear interest against the Company. |
BOOK OF ACCOUNTS
| 120. | The books of account relating to the Company’s affairs shall be kept in such manner as may be determined from time to time by the Directors. |
| 121. | The books of account shall be kept at the registered office of the Company, or at such other place or places as the Directors think fit, and shall always be open to the inspection of the Directors. |
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| 122. | The Directors shall from time to time determine whether and to what extent and at what times and places and under what conditions or regulations the accounts and books of the Company or any of them shall be open to the inspection of Members not being Directors, and no Member (not being a Director) shall have any right of inspecting any account or book or document of the Company except as conferred by law or authorized by the Directors or by the Company by Ordinary Resolution. |
| 123. | The accounts relating to the Company’s affairs shall be audited in such manner and with such financial year end as may be determined from time to time by the Company by Ordinary Resolution or failing any such determination by the Directors or failing any determination as aforesaid shall not be audited. |
ANNUAL RETURNS AND FILINGS
| 124. | The Board shall make the requisite annual returns and any other requisite filings in accordance with the Companies Act. |
AUDIT
| 125. | The Directors may appoint an Auditor of the Company who shall hold office until removed from office by a resolution of the Directors and may fix his or their remuneration. |
| 126. | Every Auditor of the Company shall have a right of access at all times to the books and accounts and vouchers of the Company and shall be entitled to require from the Directors and Officers of the Company such information and explanation as may be necessary for the performance of the duties of the auditors. |
| 127. | Auditors shall, if so required by the Directors, make a report on the accounts of the Company during their tenure of office at the next annual general meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an ordinary company, and at the next special meeting following their appointment in the case of a company which is registered with the Registrar of Companies as an exempted company, and at any time during their term of office, upon request of the Directors or any general meeting of the Members. |
THE SEAL
| 128. | The Seal of the Company shall not be affixed to any instrument except by the authority of a resolution of the Board of Directors provided always that such authority may be given prior to or after the affixing of the Seal and if given after may be in general form confirming a number of affixings of the Seal. The Seal shall be affixed in the presence of any one or more persons as the Directors may appoint for the purpose and every person as aforesaid shall sign every instrument to which the Seal of the Company is so affixed in their presence. |
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| 129. | The Company may maintain a facsimile of its Seal in such countries or places as the Directors may appoint and such facsimile Seal shall not be affixed to any instrument except by the authority of a resolution of the Board of Directors provided always that such authority may be given prior to or after the affixing of such facsimile Seal and if given after may be in general form confirming a number of affixings of such facsimile Seal. The facsimile Seal shall be affixed in the presence of such person or persons as the Directors shall for this purpose appoint and such person or persons as aforesaid shall sign every instrument to which the facsimile Seal of the Company is so affixed in their presence of and the instrument signed by a Director or the Secretary (or an Assistant Secretary) of the Company or in the presence of any one or more persons as the Directors may appoint for the purpose. |
| 130. | Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Director shall have the authority to affix the Seal, or the facsimile Seal, to any instrument for the purposes of attesting authenticity of the matter contained therein but which does not create any obligation binding on the Company. |
OFFICERS
| 131. | Subject to Article 87, the Company may have a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, one or more Senior Vice Presidents appointed by the Directors. The Directors may also from time to time appoint such other officers as they consider necessary, all for such terms, at such remuneration and to perform such duties, and subject to such provisions as to disqualification and removal as the Directors from time to time subscribe. |
CAPITALISATION OF PROFITS
| 132. | Subject to the Statutes and these Articles, the Board may, with the authority of an Ordinary Resolution: |
| (a) | resolve to capitalise an amount standing to the credit of reserves (including a share premium account, capital redemption reserve and profit and loss account), whether or not available for distribution; |
| (b) | appropriate the sum resolved to be capitalised to the Members in proportion to the nominal amount of shares (whether or not fully paid) held by them respectively and apply that sum on their behalf in or towards: |
| (i) | paying up the amounts (if any) for the time being unpaid on shares held by them respectively; or |
| (ii) | paying up in full unissued shares or debentures of a nominal amount equal to that sum, |
and allot the shares or debentures, credited as fully paid, to the Members (or as they may direct) in those proportions, or partly in one way and partly in the other, but the share premium account, the capital redemption reserved and profits which are not available for distribution may, for the purposes of this Article, only be applied in paying up unissued shares to be allotted to Members credited as fully paid;
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| (c) | make any arrangements it thinks fit to resolve a difficulty arising in the distribution of a capitalised reserve and in particular, without limitation, where shares or debentures become distributable in fractions the Board may deal with the fractions as it thinks fit; |
| (d) | authorise a person to enter (on behalf of all the Members concerned) an agreement with the Company providing for either: |
| (i) | the allotment to the Members respectively, credited as fully paid, of shares or debentures to which they may be entitled on the capitalisation, or |
| (ii) | the payment by the Company on behalf of the Members (by the application of their respective operations of the reserves resolved to be capitalised) of the amounts or part of the amounts remaining unpaid on their existing shares, |
an agreement made under the authority being effective and binding on all those Members; and
| (e) | generally do all acts and things required to give effect to the resolution. |
NOTICES
| 133. | Except as otherwise provided in these Articles, any notice or document may be served by the Company or by the person entitled to give notice to any Member either personally, by facsimile or by sending it through the post in a prepaid letter or via a recognised courier service, fees prepaid, addressed to the Member at his address as appearing in the Register of Members or, to the extent permitted by all applicable laws and regulations, by electronic means by transmitting it to any electronic number or address or website supplied by the member to the Company or by placing it on the Company’s Website provided that the Company has obtained the Member’s prior express positive confirmation in writing to receive or otherwise have made available to him notices. In the case of joint holders of a share, all notices shall be given to that one of the joint holders whose name stands first in the Register of Members in respect of the joint holding, and notice so given shall be sufficient notice to all the joint holders. |
| 134. | Notices posted to addresses outside the Cayman Islands shall be forwarded by prepaid airmail. |
| 135. | Any Member present, either personally or by proxy, at any meeting of the Company shall for all purposes be deemed to have received due notice of such meeting and, where requisite, of the purposes for which such meeting was convened. |
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| 136. | Any notice or other document, if served by (a) post, shall be deemed to have been served five days after the time when the letter containing the same is posted and if served by courier, shall be deemed to have been served five days after the time when the letter containing the same is delivered to the courier (in proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter containing the notice or document was properly addressed and duly posted or delivered to the courier), or (b) facsimile, shall be deemed to have been served upon confirmation of receipt, or (c) recognised delivery service, shall be deemed to have been served 48 hours after the time when the letter containing the same is delivered to the courier service and in proving such service it shall be sufficient to provide that the letter containing the notice or documents was properly addressed and duly posted or delivered to the courier or (d) electronic means as provided herein shall be deemed to have been served and delivered on the day following that on which it is successfully transmitted or at such later time as may be prescribed by any applicable laws or regulations. |
| 137. | Any notice or document delivered or sent to any Member in accordance with the terms of these Articles shall notwithstanding that such Member be then dead or bankrupt, and whether or not the Company has notice of his death or bankruptcy, be deemed to have been duly served in respect of any share registered in the name of such Member as sole or joint holder, unless his name shall at the time of the service of the notice or document, have been removed from the Register of Members as the holder of the share, and such service shall for all purposes be deemed a sufficient service of such notice or document on all persons interested (whether jointly with or as claiming through or under him) in the share. |
INFORMATION
| 138. | Notice of every general meeting shall be given to: |
| (a) | all Members who have supplied to the Company an address for the giving of notices to them; and |
| (b) | every person entitled to a share in consequence of the death or bankruptcy of a Member, who but for his death or bankruptcy would be entitled to receive notice of the meeting. |
No other person shall be entitled to receive notices of general meetings.
| 139. | No Member shall be entitled to require discovery of any information in respect of any detail of the Company’s trading or any information which is or may be in the nature of a trade secret or secret process which may relate to the conduct of the business of the Company and which in the opinion of the Board would not be in the interests of the members of the Company to communicate to the public. |
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| 140. | The Board shall be entitled to release or disclose any information in its possession, custody or control regarding the Company or its affairs to any of its members including, without limitation, information contained in the Register of Members and transfer books of the Company. Any Register of Members held in Hong Kong shall during normal business hours (subject to such reasonable restrictions as the Board may impose) be open for inspection by a Member without charge, provided that the Company may be permitted to close the Register of Members in terms equivalent to section 632 of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (as in force from time to time). |
INDEMNITY
| 141. | Every Director (including for the purposes of this Article any Alternate Director appointed pursuant to the provisions of these Articles) and officer of the Company for the time being and from time to time shall be indemnified and secured harmless out of the assets and funds of the Company against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, expenses, losses, damages or liabilities incurred or sustained by him in connection with the execution or discharge of his duties, powers, authorities or discretions as a Director or officer of the Company, including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any costs, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred by him in defending (whether successfully or otherwise) any civil proceedings concerning the Company or its affairs in any court whether in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere. |
| 142. | No such Director or officer of the Company shall be liable to the Company for any loss or damage unless such liability arises through the willful neglect or default of such Director or officer. |
FINANCIAL YEAR
| 143. | Unless the Directors otherwise prescribe, the financial year of the Company shall end on May 31st in each year and shall begin on June 1st in each year. |
NON-RECOGNITION OF TRUSTS
| 144. | No person shall be recognised by the Company as holding any share upon any trust and the Company shall not, unless required by law, be bound by or be compelled in any way to recognise (even when having notice thereof) any equitable, contingent or future interest in any of its shares or any other rights in respect thereof except an absolute right to the entirety thereof in each Member registered in the Register of Members. |
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WINDING UP
| 145A. | Subject to the Companies Act, the Company may by Special Resolution resolve that the Company be wound up voluntarily. |
| 145. | Subject to these Articles, if the Company shall be wound up the liquidator may, with the sanction of an Ordinary Resolution of the Company divide amongst the Members, on a pro rata basis, in specie or kind the whole or any part of the assets of the Company (whether they shall consist of property of the same kind or not) and may, for such purpose set such value as he deems fair upon any property to be divided as aforesaid and may determine how such division shall be carried out as between the Members or different classes of Members. The liquidator may, with the like sanction, vest the whole or any part of such assets in trustees upon such trusts for the benefit of the contributories as the liquidator, with the like sanction shall think fit, but so that no Member shall be compelled to accept any shares or other securities whereon there is any liability. |
AMENDMENT OF MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION AND NAME OF COMPANY
| 146. | Subject to the Companies Act and these Articles, the Company may at any time and from time to time by Special Resolution alter or amend these Articles or the Memorandum of Association of the Company, in whole or in part, or change the name of the Company. |
REGISTRATION BY WAY OF CONTINUATION
| 147. | Subject to these Articles, the Company may by Special Resolution resolve to be registered by way of continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands or such other jurisdiction in which it is for the time being incorporated, registered or existing. In furtherance of a resolution adopted pursuant to this Article, the Directors may cause an application to be made to the Registrar of Companies to deregister the Company in the Cayman Islands or such other jurisdiction in which it is for the time being incorporated, registered or existing and may cause all such further steps as they consider appropriate to be taken to effect the transfer by way of continuation of the Company. |
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EXCLUSIVE FORUM
| 148. | Unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (or, if the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York lacks subject matter jurisdiction over a particular dispute, the state courts in New York County, New York) shall be the exclusive forum within the United States for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising out of or relating in any way to the federal securities laws of the United States, regardless of whether such legal suit, action, or proceeding also involves parties other than the Company. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any share or other securities in the Company, or purchasing or otherwise acquiring American depositary shares issued pursuant to deposit agreements, shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this Article. Without prejudice to the foregoing, if the provision in this Article is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the legality, validity or enforceability of the rest of these Articles shall not be affected and this Article shall be interpreted and construed to the maximum extent possible to apply in the relevant jurisdiction with whatever modification or deletion may be necessary so as best to give effect to the intention of the Company. |
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Exhibit 99.1
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. Announces Results of Annual General Meeting
BEIJING, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ – New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (“New Oriental” or the “Company”) (NYSE: EDU and SEHK: 9901), a provider of private educational services in China, today announced that the following proposed resolution submitted for shareholder approval has been adopted at its annual general meeting of shareholders held in Beijing today:
| 1. | as a special resolution, THAT, the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association be amended and restated by their deletion in their entirety and by the substitution in their place of the Third Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. |
About New Oriental
New Oriental is a provider of private educational services in China offering a wide range of educational programs, services and products to a varied student population throughout China. New Oriental’s program, service and product offerings mainly consist of educational services and test preparation courses, private label products and livestreaming e-commerce and other services, and overseas study consulting services. New Oriental is listed on NYSE (NYSE: EDU) and SEHK (9901.SEHK), respectively. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents ten common shares, are listed and traded on the NYSE. The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.
For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://www.neworiental.org/english/.
Contacts
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn
Ms. Rita Fong
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852 3768 4548
Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com
Exhibit 99.2
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”) take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
NEW ORIENTAL EDUCATION & TECHNOLOGY GROUP INC.
新 东 方 教 育 科 技（ 集 团 ）有 限 公 司 *
(continued in the Cayman Islands with limited liability)
(Stock Code: 9901)
RESULTS OF 2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
We refer to our announcement dated October 27, 2023 (the “Notice of AGM”). We are pleased to announce that the proposed resolution set out in the Notice of AGM was duly passed at our annual general meeting of shareholders held on November 28, 2023. Unless the context suggests otherwise, capitalized terms used in this announcement shall have the same meanings as those in the Notice of AGM.
Attached hereto as Schedule 1 is the full text of the press release issued by the Company on November 28, 2023 announcing the results of the annual general meeting of shareholders held on November 28, 2023.
| By order of the Board New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. Mr. Michael Minhong Yu Chairman |
Beijing, China, November 28, 2023
As at the date of this announcement, the board of directors of the Company comprises Mr. Michael Minhong Yu, Mr. Chenggang Zhou and Mr. Louis T. Hsieh as directors and Mr. Robin Yanhong Li, Mr. Denny Lee and Mr. John Zhuang Yang as independent directors.
| * | for identification purposes only. |
1
SCHEDULE 1
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. Announces Results of Annual General Meeting
BEIJING, Nov. 28, 2023 — New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (“New Oriental” or the “Company”) (NYSE: EDU and SEHK: 9901), a provider of private educational services in China, today announced that the following proposed resolution submitted for shareholder approval has been adopted at its annual general meeting of shareholders held in Beijing today:
| 1. | as a special resolution, THAT, the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association be amended and restated by their deletion in their entirety and by the substitution in their place of the Third Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association. |
About New Oriental
New Oriental is a provider of private educational services in China offering a wide range of educational programs, services and products to a varied student population throughout China. New Oriental’s program, service and product offerings mainly consist of educational services and test preparation courses, private label products and livestreaming e-commerce and other services, and overseas study consulting services. New Oriental is listed on NYSE (NYSE: EDU) and SEHK (9901.SEHK), respectively. New Oriental’s ADSs, each of which represents ten common shares, are listed and traded on the NYSE. The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with the ADSs listed on NYSE.
For more information about New Oriental, please visit http://www.neworiental.org/english/.
Contacts
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Ms. Sisi Zhao
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.
Tel: +86-10-6260-5568
Email: zhaosisi@xdf.cn
Ms. Rita Fong
FTI Consulting
Tel: +852 3768 4548
Email: rita.fong@fticonsulting.com
2