Adopted

AMENDMENT NO 1 PROPOSED TO

Senate Bill No. 2553

BY: Senator(s) Ross

     Amend by inserting after line 638 the following, and renumber subsequent sections:

     SECTION *.  Section 79-4-16.20, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     79-4-16.20.  (a)  A corporation shall furnish its shareholders annual financial statements, which may be consolidated or combined statements of the corporation and one or more of its subsidiaries, as appropriate, that include a balance sheet as of the end of the fiscal year, an income statement for that year, and a statement of changes in shareholders' equity for the year unless that information appears elsewhere in the financial statements.  If financial statements are prepared for the corporation on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, the annual financial statements must also be prepared on that basis.

     (b)  If the annual financial statements are reported upon by a public accountant, his report must accompany them.  If not, the statements must be accompanied by a statement of the president or the person responsible for the corporation's accounting records:

          (1)  Stating his reasonable belief whether the statements were prepared on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles and, if not, describing the basis of preparation; and

          (2)  Describing any respects in which the statements were not prepared on a basis of accounting consistent with the statements prepared for the preceding year.

     (c)  A corporation shall deliver the annual financial statements to each shareholder within one hundred twenty (120) days after the close of each fiscal year.  Thereafter, on written request from a shareholder to whom the statements were not delivered, the corporation shall mail him the latest financial statements.

     FURTHER, amend the title on line 24 by inserting after the semicolon the following:

TO AMEND SECTION 79-4-16.20, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS MAY BE DELIVERED BY METHODS OTHER THAN MAIL;