Montana § 35-14-120 - Requirements For Documents -- Extrinsic Facts

§ 35-14-120. Requirements For Documents -- Extrinsic Facts

Requirements for documents -- extrinsic facts. (1) A document must satisfy the requirements of this section and any other section that adds to or varies these requirements to be entitled to filing by the secretary of state. (2) This chapter must require or permit filing the document in the office of the secretary of state. (3) The document must contain the information required by this chapter and may contain other information. (4) The document must be typewritten or printed or, if electronically transmitted, must be in a format that can be retrieved or reproduced in typewritten or printed form. (5) The document must be in the English language. A corporate name need not be in English if written in English letters or Arabic or Roman numerals. (6) The document must be signed: (a) by the chairman of the board of directors of a domestic or foreign corporation, by its president, or by another of its officers; (b) if directors have not been selected or the corporation has not been formed, by an incorporator; or (c) if the corporation is in the hands of a receiver, trustee, or other court-appointed fiduciary, by that fiduciary. (7) The person executing the document shall sign it and state beneath or opposite the signature the person's name and the capacity in which the document is signed. The document may but need not contain a corporate seal, attestation, acknowledgment, or verification. (8) If the secretary of state has prescribed a mandatory form for the document under 35-14-121 (1), the document must be in or on the prescribed form. (9) The document must be delivered to the office of the secretary of state for filing by electronic transmission. The secretary of state may authorize exceptions to the requirement of filing documents by electronic transmission. (10) When the document is delivered to the office of the secretary of state for filing, the correct filing fee and any franchise tax, license fee, or penalty required by this chapter or other law to be paid at the time of delivery for filing must be paid or provision for payment made in a manner permitted by the secretary of state. (11) Whenever a provision of this chapter permits any of the terms of a plan or a filed document to be dependent on facts objectively ascertainable outside the plan or filed document, the following provisions apply: (a) The manner in which the facts will operate on the terms of the plan or filed document must be set forth in the plan or filed document. (b) The facts may include: (i) any of the following that is available in a nationally recognized news or information medium, either in print or electronically: (A) statistical or market indices; (B) market prices of any security or group of securities; (C) interest rates; (D) currency exchange rates; or (E) similar economic or financial data; (ii) a determination or action by any person or body, including the corporation or any other party to a plan or filed document; or (iii) the terms of or actions taken under an agreement to which the corporation is a party or any other agreement or document. (c) As used in this subsection (11): (i) "filed document" means a document filed by the secretary of state under any provision of this chapter except part 15 or 35-14-1621 ; and (ii) "plan" means a plan of domestication, conversion, merger, or share exchange. (d) The following provisions of a plan or filed document may not be made dependent on facts outside the plan or filed document: (i) the name and address of any person required in a filed document; (ii) the registered office of any entity required in a filed document; (iii) the registered agent of any entity required in a filed document; (iv) the number of authorized shares and designation of each class or series of shares; (v) the effective date of a filed document; and (vi) any required statement in a filed document of the date on which the underlying transaction was approved or the manner in which that approval was given. (e) If a provision of a filed document is made dependent on a fact ascertainable outside the filed document and if that fact is not ascertainable by reference to a source described in subsection (11)(b)(i) or a document that is a matter of public record and the affected shareholders have not received notice of the fact from the corporation, then the corporation shall file with the secretary of state articles of amendment to the filed document setting forth the fact promptly after the time when the fact referred to is first ascertainable or subsequently changes. Articles of amendment under this subsection (11)(e) are considered to be authorized by the authorization of the original filed document to which they relate and may be filed by the corporation without further action by the board of directors or the shareholders.