The frequency of shareholders' meetings for the election of directors: let the states set the rules

Under both state corporate law and stock exchange listing standards, public corporations are required to hold annual shareholders' meetings for the election of directors. Common wisdom is that expenditures are justified because annual elections and meetings are an important part of corporate governance, or, put differently, the benefits outweigh the costs. Annual director elections and shareholders' meetings are now optional under Minnesota and North Dakota corporate law. There is no strong justification for requiring annual director elections and shareholders' meetings. The large majority of annual director elections and shareholders' meetings are meaningless and therefore a waste of time and money. One response could be to make them more meaningful. For example, shareholders could be allowed to annually include candidates on a corporation's proxy, management attendance at shareholders' meetings could be mandated; a convenient meeting location could be required, etc.