Description of Share Capital
The following is a description of the material terms of our Memorandum of Association and amended Bye-laws.
Purpose
The Memorandum of Association of the Company was previously filed on November 27, 2002 as Exhibit 1.1 to our registration statement on Form 20-F (File No. 000-50113), as amended by the Certificate of Deposit of Memorandum of Increase of Share Capital previously filed on April 30, 2015 as Exhibit 1.6 to our Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 000-50113) (the “Memorandum of Association”) and is incorporated by reference herein.
The purposes and powers of the Company are set forth in our Memorandum of Association and in the First Schedule and Second Schedule of the Companies Act 1981 of Bermuda, as amended, or the Companies Act. These purposes include, among other things, exploring, drilling, moving, transporting and refining petroleum and hydro-carbon products, including oil and oil products; acquiring, owning, chartering, selling, managing and operating ships and aircraft; the entering into of any guarantee, contract of indemnity or suretyship and to assure, support, secure, with or without the consideration or benefit, the performance of any obligations of any person or persons; and the borrowing and raising of money in any currency or currencies to secure or discharge any debt or obligation in any manner.
Our Bye-Laws
The amended Bye-laws of the Company, as adopted on September 24, 2020, were filed with the Commission on November 30, 2020 as Exhibit 4.1 to our report on Form 6-K, and are hereby incorporated by reference into this prospectus.
Our shareholders have no pre-emptive, subscription, redemption, conversion or sinking fund rights. Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders. Shareholders have no cumulative voting rights. Shareholders are entitled to dividends if and when they are declared by our Board of Directors, subject to compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act and any preferred dividend right of holders of any preferred shares. The election of directors by shareholders requires a simple majority of votes cast at a meeting at which a quorum is present, as do all other matters requiring shareholder approval, unless a different majority is required by law or our Bye-laws. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, shareholders will be entitled under Bermuda law to receive, ratably, our net assets available after the payment of all our debts and liabilities and any preference amount owed to any preference shareholders. The rights of shareholders, including the right to elect directors, are subject to the rights of any series of preferred shares we may issue in the future. Notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, the material terms of any series of preferred shares that we may offer through a prospectus supplement will be described in that prospectus supplement. See “Preferred Shares.”
Under our Bye-laws, annual meetings of shareholders will be held at a time and place selected by our Board of Directors each calendar year. Special meetings may be called at the discretion of the board of directors and at the request of shareholders holding at least one-tenth of all outstanding shares entitled to vote at a meeting. Under our Bye-laws, seven days notice of an annual meeting or any special meeting must be given to each shareholder entitled to vote at that meeting. Under Bermuda law, accidental failure to give notice will not invalidate proceedings at a meeting. Our Board of Directors may set a record date at any time before or after any date on which such notice is dispatched.
Special rights attaching to any class of our shares may be altered or abrogated with the consent in writing of not less than 75% of the issued shares of that class or with the sanction of a resolution passed at a separate general meeting of the holders of such shares voting in person or by proxy.
Our Bye-laws do not prohibit a director from being a party to, or otherwise having an interest in, any transaction or arrangement with the Company or in which the Company is otherwise interested provided that such a director discloses, at the first opportunity at a meeting of directors or by writing to the directors, the existence and nature of such interest. Such director can thereafter count in the quorum and vote in respect of such matters in their consideration by the Board of Directors. Our Bye-laws provide our Board of Directors with the authority to exercise all of the powers of the Company to borrow money and to mortgage or charge all or any part of our property and assets as collateral security for any debt, liability or obligation. Our directors are not required to retire because of