(1) A corporation may not indemnify a director under RCW 23B.08.510 unless approved in the specific case after a determination has been made that indemnification of the director is permissible in the circumstances because the director has met the standard of conduct set forth in RCW 23B.08.510.

Terms Used In Washington Code 23B.08.550

  • 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.
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
(2) The determination shall be made:
(a) By the board of directors by majority vote of a quorum consisting of directors not at the time parties to the proceeding;
(b) If a quorum cannot be obtained under (a) of this subsection, by majority vote of a committee duly designated by the board of directors, in which designation directors who are parties may participate, consisting solely of two or more directors not at the time parties to the proceeding;
(c) By special legal counsel:
(i) Selected by the board of directors or its committee in the manner prescribed in (a) or (b) of this subsection; or
(ii) If a quorum of the board of directors cannot be obtained under (a) of this subsection and a committee cannot be designated under (b) of this subsection, selected by majority vote of the full board of directors, in which selection directors who are parties may participate; or
(d) By the shareholders, but shares owned by or voted under the control of directors who are at the time parties to the proceeding may not be voted on the determination.
(3) Approval of indemnification and evaluation as to reasonableness of expenses shall be made in the same manner as the determination that indemnification is permissible, except that if the determination is made by special legal counsel, approval of indemnification and evaluation as to reasonableness of expenses shall be made by those entitled under subsection (2)(c) of this section to select counsel.