Exhibit 4.1
DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
As of January 24, 2020, General Motors Company had one class of common stock registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).
The following description of our common stock is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and our amended and restated bylaws (the “Bylaws”), each of which is incorporated herein by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, of which this Exhibit 4. 1 is a part. We encourage you to read our Certificate of Incorporation, our Bylaws and the applicable provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) for additional information.
Authorized Capital Stock
Our Certificate of Incorporation currently authorizes our Board of Directors to issue 5,000,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share. As of January 24, 2020, 1,429,002,063 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. All outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.
Dividend Rights
The DGCL and our Certificate of Incorporation do not require our Board of Directors to declare dividends on our common stock. The declaration of any dividend on our common stock is a matter to be acted upon by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion. Our payment of dividends on our common stock in the future will be determined by our Board of Directors in its sole discretion and will depend on business conditions, our financial condition, earnings and liquidity, and other factors.
The DGCL restricts the power of our Board of Directors to declare and pay dividends on our common stock. The amounts which may be declared and paid by our Board of Directors as dividends on our common stock are subject to the amount legally available for the payment of dividends on our common stock by us under the DGCL. In particular, under the DGCL, we can only pay dividends to the extent that we have surplus—the extent by which the fair market value of our net assets exceeds the amount of our capital—or to the extent of our net profits for the fiscal year in which the dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. In addition, dividends on our common stock are subject to any preferential rights on any outstanding series of preferred stock authorized for issuance by our Board of Directors in accordance with our Certificate of Incorporation. As of January 24, 2020, there were no shares of preferred stock outstanding.
Voting Rights
Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, except as may otherwise be provided in a certificate of designations relating to any outstanding series of preferred stock or by applicable law, the holders of shares of common stock shall be entitled to one vote for each such share upon each matter presented to the stockholders and the common stock shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors and for all other purposes. Holders of our common stock do not possess cumulative voting rights.
Under our Bylaws, in uncontested elections of directors, those nominees receiving the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast with respect to that director’s election at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be elected. A majority of votes cast means that the number of votes for a nominee must exceed 50% of the votes cast with respect to the election of that nominee (excluding any abstentions). In certain contested elections, the nominees who receive a plurality of votes cast with respect to the election of directors at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be elected. Under our Bylaws, any other corporate action put to a stockholder vote shall be decided by the vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the shares entitled to vote thereon present in person or by proxy at the meeting, unless otherwise provided by law, rule or regulation, including any stock exchange rule or regulation, applicable to the Company.
Liquidation Rights
In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the holders of our common stock would be entitled to receive, after payment or provision for payment of all of our debts and liabilities, all of our assets available for distribution. Holders of our preferred stock, if any such shares are then outstanding, may have a priority over the holders of common stock in the event of any liquidation or dissolution.
Listing
The common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “GM.”
Certain Provisions of Our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and Delaware Law
Amendments to Our Certificate of Incorporation
Under the DGCL, the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote thereon and a majority of the outstanding stock of each class entitled to vote thereon is generally required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation. Under the DGCL, the holders of the outstanding shares of a class of our capital stock shall be entitled to vote as a class upon a proposed amendment, whether or not entitled to vote thereon by the certificate of incorporation, if the amendment would:
| • | increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of such class; |
| • | increase or decrease the par value of the shares of such class; or |
| • | alter or change the powers, preferences, or special rights of the shares of such class so as to affect them adversely. |
If any proposed amendment would alter or change the powers, preferences or special rights of one or more series of any class of our capital stock so as to affect them adversely, but shall not so affect the entire class, then only the shares of the series so affected by the amendment shall be considered a separate class for the purposes of this provision.
Vacancies in our Board of Directors
Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws provide that any vacancy occurring in our Board of Directors for any reason shall be filled exclusively pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the remaining members of our Board of Directors then in office. Each director so elected shall hold office for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders. Each director shall hold office until his or her
successor is elected and qualified, unless the director dies, resigns or otherwise leaves the Board of Directors before then.
Special Meetings of Stockholders
Under our Bylaws, special meetings of stockholders may be called at any time by the chairman of the Board of Directors, by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors or as otherwise provided by Delaware law or the Certificate of Incorporation. Our Bylaws further provide that the Board of Directors shall call a special meeting upon the written request of the record holders of at least 25%, in the aggregate, of the voting power of the outstanding shares of all classes of shares entitled to vote at such a meeting, subject to requirements and limitations set forth in our Bylaws.
Under the DGCL, written notice of any special meeting must be given not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date of the special meeting to each stockholder entitled to vote at such meeting.
Requirements for Notice of Stockholder Director Nominations and Stockholder Business
Under our Bylaws, nominations for the election of directors may be made by the Board of Directors or by any stockholder entitled to vote for the election of directors who complies with the applicable notice and other requirements set forth in our Bylaws.
If a stockholder wishes to bring any business before an annual or special meeting or nominate a person for election to our Board of Directors, our Bylaws contain certain procedures that must be followed for the advance timing required for delivery of stockholder notice of such nomination or other business and the information that such notice must contain.
Proxy Access Nominations
Under our Bylaws, we must include in our proxy statement for an annual meeting the name, together with certain other required information, of any person nominated for the election of directors in compliance with specified provisions in our Bylaws by a single stockholder that satisfies (or by a group of no more than 20 stockholders that satisfy) various notice and other requirements specified in our Bylaws. Among other requirements in our Bylaws, such stockholder or group of stockholders would need to provide evidence verifying that the stockholder or group owns, and has owned continuously for the preceding three years, at least 3% of the issued and outstanding voting shares of the Company. Our Bylaws contain limitations on the maximum number of nominees submitted by stockholders that we would be required to include in our proxy statement for an annual meeting.
Stockholder Action by Written Consent without a Meeting
Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that no action that is required or permitted to be taken by our stockholders at any annual or special meeting of stockholders may be effected by written consent of stockholders in lieu of a meeting except where such consent is signed by the holders of all shares of stock of the Company then outstanding and entitled to vote thereon. Our Bylaws also contain notice and procedural requirements applicable to persons seeking to have the stockholders authorize or take corporate action by written consent without a meeting.
Certain Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law
We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in various business combination transactions with any interested stockholder for a period of three years following the time that such person became an interested stockholder, unless:
| • | the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder is approved by the Board of Directors prior to the time the interested stockholder obtained such status; |
| • | upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced; or |
| • | at or subsequent to such time the business combination is approved by the Board of Directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
A “business combination” is defined to include mergers, asset sales, and other transactions resulting in financial benefit to an “interested stockholder.” In general, an “interested stockholder” is a person who owns (or is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and, within the prior three years, did own) 15% or more of the corporation’s voting stock.
However, the restrictions contained in Section 203 will not apply if the business combination is with an interested stockholder who became an interested stockholder before the time that we had a class of voting stock that is either listed on a national securities exchange or held of record by more than 2,000 stockholders.