The East India Company: A History.

The Annual General Meeting as an Accountability Mechanism

“…However by 1609, the company sought a new charter and ended the policy of financing each voyage separately, so that stockholders' funds were thereafter used for the general operations of the company, with profits being distributed in proportion to capital invested. Contemporaneous with this new charter, the number of shareholders was increased to 276 (Gardner, 1971).…”

“…However, only those proprietors who had invested £1,000 or more could vote and those with £10,000 or more invested had four votes each. By the late eighteenth century, around fifty proprietors met this threshold and became extremely powerful (Gardner, 1971). Both Gardner (1971) and Chaudhuri (1965) recount the voluble meetings at which these proprietors criticised governance procedures and cost overruns.…”

“…By the late eighteenth century, around fifty proprietors met this threshold and became extremely powerful (Gardner, 1971). Both Gardner (1971) and Chaudhuri (1965) recount the voluble meetings at which these proprietors criticised governance procedures and cost overruns.…”

“…By 1772, on the verge of bankruptcy, the Company approached the Government for a loan. In return for the £1,500,000 advanced, a Regulating Act was passed to bring management of the Company under the indirect control of the Crown and Parliament through a Board of Control (Gardner, 1971). The Court of Committees lost its power and although minority proprietors continued to express public disquiet about the Company, they lacked effective means to force change.…”