Analysis On Shareholder＇s Right To Inspect Books And Records

Shareholders must be involved in important activities and major decisions of the company, if they want to protect their rights and interests. The prerequisite for participation is that grasping the company relevant financial information and understanding the operating conditions, which makes the right judgments and decision-makings. However, the core information managements and decision-makings are usually held by the board and senior managements, and the small and medium-sized shareholders do not grasp the important information because they do not participate in the company management activities. So the problem of information asymmetry produces increasingly between the shareholders and the company management. This situation created the conditions for the board and management to infringe on shareholders' rights and interests. It becomes the inevitable choice of various countries' company legislation that perfecting and ensuring the exercise of shareholders' right to know, maintaining shareholders' legal interests and rights. Shareholder's right to inspect books and records is the core of shareholders' right to know. Shareholders can know the company's financial position and important information of operating management by exercising Shareholder's right to inspect books and records, which is the direct way to safeguard their own rights and important means of supervision company managements. The establishment of Shareholder's right to inspect books and records avoid disadvantages which are caused by the separation of franchise and ownership in company. This article analyzed the basic theory, exercising elements and exercising procedure of Shareholder's right to inspect books and records according to our country's company legislation and referencing abroad legislative principles. I also put forward some suggestions to improve this right exercise for domestic reality. The first part of this article introduced the concept, properties and significances of Shareholder's right to inspect books and records, and clear the relationship between Shareholder's right to inspect books and records and shareholders' right to know. The second part analyzed exercising elements and put forward subjectivity element, subjective element and object element. The third part introduced exercising procedures by analyzing Shareholders' identity, requesting way and exercising way.