Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1831 – Annual benefit report
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1831
- Benefit officer: means the individual designated as the benefit officer of a benefit corporation pursuant to La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- General public benefit: means a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, assessed against a third-party standard, from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Specific public benefit: means any of the following:
(a) Serving low-income or underserved individuals or communities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
- Third-party standard: means a recognized standard for defining, reporting, and assessing the performance of corporations in producing general public benefit and specific public benefits which is all of the following:
(a) Comprehensive in that it assesses the effect of the corporation and its operations in producing general public benefit and any specific public benefit specified in the articles. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 12:1803
A. A benefit corporation shall prepare an annual benefit report including all of the following:
(1) A narrative description of all of the following:
(a) The ways in which the benefit corporation pursued a general public benefit during the year and the extent to which the general public benefit was created.
(b) The ways in which the benefit corporation pursued a specific public benefit that the articles state it is the purpose of the benefit corporation to create and the extent to which that specific public benefit was created.
(c) Any circumstances that have hindered the creation by the benefit corporation of a general public benefit or specific public benefit.
(d) The process and rationale for selecting or changing the third-party standard used to prepare the benefit report.
(2) An assessment of the performance of the benefit corporation in pursuing the creation of general public benefit against a third-party standard which is either applied consistently with any application of that standard in prior benefit reports or accompanied by an explanation of the reasons for any inconsistent application. The assessment shall not be required to be performed, audited, or certified by a third-party standards provider.
(3) The name of the benefit director and the benefit officer, if any, and the address to which correspondence to each of them may be directed.
(4) The compensation paid by the benefit corporation during the year to each director in the capacity of a director.
(5) The name of each person that owns five percent or more of the outstanding shares of the benefit corporation.
(6) The statement of the benefit director pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 12:1822(C).
(7) A statement of any connection between the organization that established the third-party standard, or its directors, officers, or any holder of five percent or more of the governance interests in the organization, and the benefit corporation or its directors, officers, or any holder of five percent or more of the outstanding shares of the benefit corporation, including any financial or governance relationship which might materially affect the credibility of the use of the third-party standard.
B. A benefit corporation shall annually send a benefit report to each shareholder either:
(1) Within one hundred twenty days following the end of the fiscal year of the benefit corporation.
(2) At the same time that the benefit corporation delivers any other annual report to its shareholders.
C. A benefit corporation shall post all of its benefit reports on the public portion of its Internet website, if any. The compensation paid to directors and financial or proprietary information included in the benefit reports may be omitted from the benefit reports as posted.
D. If a benefit corporation does not have an Internet website, the benefit corporation shall provide a copy of its most recent benefit report, without charge, to any person that requests a copy, but the compensation paid to directors and financial or proprietary information included in the benefit report may be omitted from the copy of the benefit report provided.
Acts 2012, No. 442, §1.