GD Culture Group Limited (GDC) 10-K 2023 FY Annual report

Exhibit 4.1

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

A summary of the material provisions governing our securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) is provided below. This summary is not complete and should be read together with our Articles of Incorporation, Certificates of Amendment to Articles of Incorporation and the Second Amended and Restated Bylaws (“articles and bylaws”), copies of which are filed with the U.S. Securities Exchange and Commission (the “SEC”). References herein to “we,” “us,” “our,” “GDC” and the “Company” are to GD Culture Group Limited. Defined terms used herein and not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K.

We had the following series of securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

Title of Each Class	Trading symbol	Name of Each Exchange On Which Registered
Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share	GDC	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

As provided in the articles and bylaws, our authorized capital stock consists of 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share.

As of April 1, 2024, there were 7,887,411 shares of common stock and no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

Common Stock

Voting Rights. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders. Under our articles and bylaws, any corporate action to be taken by vote of stockholders other than for election of directors or such actions requiring a different number of votes by statute or our articles or bylaws, shall be authorized by the vote of the majority of the shares having voting power of those present in person or represented by proxy at a meeting of stockholder, or by written consent signed by shareholders holding a majority of the voting power, or by a different proportion of voting power if required for such corporate action. Directors are elected by a plurality of votes. Stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights.

Dividend Rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any then-outstanding preferred stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably those dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of legally available funds.

Liquidation Rights. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities and the satisfaction of any liquidation preference granted to the holders of any then-outstanding shares of preferred stock.

Other Rights. Holders of common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights and there are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of the holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock.

Preferred Stock

Our articles and bylaws authorize our board to issue up to 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, to determine the designations and the powers, preferences and rights and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, including the dividend rights, conversion or exchange rights, voting rights (including the number of votes per share), redemption rights and terms, liquidation preferences, sinking fund provisions and the number of shares constituting the series. Our board of directors could, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of common stock and which could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, a majority of our outstanding voting stock.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Provisions of the Nevada Revised Statutes, our articles and bylaws could have the effect of delaying or preventing a third-party from acquiring us, even if the acquisition would benefit our stockholders. Such provisions of the Nevada Revised Statutes, our articles and bylaws are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by the board of directors and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of control of our company. These provisions are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited proposal for a takeover that does not contemplate the acquisition of all of our outstanding shares, or an unsolicited proposal for the restructuring or sale of all or part of our company.

Our articles and bylaws may be adopted, amended or repealed by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of our outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote for the election of directors, and except as provided by Nevada law, our board of directors shall have the power to adopt, amend or repeal the articles and bylaws by a vote of not less than a majority of our directors. Any bylaw provision adopted by the board of directors may be amended or repealed by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote for the election of directors. Our articles and bylaws also contain limitations as to who may call special meetings as well as require advance notice of stockholder matters to be brought at a meeting. Additionally, our articles and bylaws also provide that no director may be removed by less than a two-thirds vote of the issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote on the removal. Our articles and bylaws also permit the board of directors to establish the number of directors and fill any vacancies and newly created directorships. These provisions will prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees.

Our articles and bylaws establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders, including proposed nominations of persons for election to the board of directors. Stockholders at an annual meeting will only be able to consider proposals or nominations specified in the notice of meeting or brought before the meeting by or at the direction of the board of directors or by a stockholder who was a stockholder of record on the record date for the meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who has given us timely written notice, in proper form, of the stockholder’s intention to bring that business before the meeting. Although our articles and bylaws do not give the board of directors the power to approve or disapprove stockholder nominations of candidates or proposals regarding other business to be conducted at a special or annual meeting, our articles and bylaws may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the proper procedures are not followed or may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

Authorized but Unissued Shares 

Our authorized but unissued shares of common stock are available for our board of directors to issue without stockholder approval. We may use these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes, including raising additional capital, corporate acquisitions and employee stock plans. The existence of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock could render it more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of the company by means of a proxy context, tender offer, merger or other transaction since our board of directors can issue large amounts of capital stock as part of a defense to a take-over challenge. In addition, we have authorized in our articles and bylaws 20,000,000 shares of preferred stock, none of which are currently designated or outstanding. However, the board acting alone and without approval of our stockholders can designate and issue one or more series of preferred stock containing super-voting provisions, enhanced economic rights, rights to elect directors, or other dilutive features, that could be utilized as part of a defense to a take-over challenge.

Supermajority Voting Provisions 

Nevada law provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, unless a corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws, as the case may be, require a greater percentage. Although our articles and bylaws do not currently provide for such a supermajority vote on any matters other than as required by Nevada law, our board of directors can amend our bylaws and we can, with the approval of our stockholders, amend our articles and bylaws to provide for such a supermajority voting provision.

Cumulative Voting

Furthermore, neither the holders of our common stock nor the holders of our preferred stock have cumulative voting rights in the election of our directors. The combination of the present ownership by a few stockholders of a significant portion of our issued and outstanding common stock and lack of cumulative voting makes it more difficult for other stockholders to replace our board of directors or for a third party to obtain control of our company by replacing its board of directors.

Listing

Our common stocks are listed and traded under the symbols “GDC” on the Nasdaq Capital Market tier of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

We have appointed Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 1 State Street, 30th Floor, New York, NY 10004, as the transfer agent for our common stocks.