I recently read an excellent reminder on corporate governance issues written by business and real estate lawyer Traci D. Ellis.
Ellis wrote that good corporate governance is essential to running and growing a business. Here are some of her examples of good corporate governance:
- Hold regular board of director and shareholder meetings in accordance with the bylaws.
- Document those meetings with meeting minutes.
- Observe corporate formalities (e.g. segregating corporate assets from personal assets; adhering to the bylaws, etc.)
Also, she recommends you should review the shareholder agreement and bylaws regularly (at least annually) to ensure that they accurately reflect how the company is being run and amend them as necessary.
Thanks to Imke Ratschko of the New York Small Business Law Blog for leading me to Traci’s site. I also found Alex Simpson’s Corporate and Securities Law Blog through Traci and Imke’s site. All three of these blog sites contain informative articles on business and corporate law issues. I recommend you check them out.