It's Tax Day and a New Iowa Law Will Govern Shareholder Access to Corporate Financial Records

Matt McKinney is an attorney at BrownWinick Attorneys at Law.

Given that this post is being published on tax day, I thought it would be fitting to dicsuss new legislation signed into law just days ago that changes how shareholders in Iowa corporations receive and access corporate financial recrods. On March 26, Iowa Governor, Terry Branstad, signed a new bill (Senate File 2200) into law that modifies the manner in which Iowa corporations are required to provide financial information to their shareholders.

Previous Iowa law required most Iowa corporations to deliver certain financial information to their shareholders within 120 days of the corporation's fiscal year end.

Such information inlcluded providing shareholders with a balance sheet, an income statement, and a statement of changes in shareholders’ equity. The new Iowa law provides that many Iowa corporations, including those with less than 100 shareholders, are no longer required to deliver financial statements to shareholders if they meet certain minimum standards. Additionally and in an apparent effort to further modernize Iowa's corporate laws and save a few trees, Iowa's new law permits certain Iowa corporations to comply with the new financial notice requirements by making financial statements accessable to shareholders via the internet.  

To read the full text of Iowa's new law, including a redlined verion of Iowa's prior law on the topic click here. Further, if you are curious and interested in learning about all new legislation signed into law thus far during the 2014 legislative session, click here.