EX-2.3 2 cleu_ex23.htm DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES cleu_ex23.htm

  EXHIBIT 2.3

 

Description of rights of each class of securities
registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)

 

Ordinary shares of China Liberal Education Holdings Limited (“we,” “our,” “our company,” or “us”) are listed and traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and in connection with this listing (but not for trading), its ordinary shares are registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act. This exhibit contains a description of the rights of the holders of ordinary shares.

 

Description of Ordinary Shares

 

The following is a summary of material provisions of our currently effective amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Memorandum and Articles of Association”), as well as the Companies Act (As Amended) of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Act”) insofar as they relate to the material terms of our ordinary shares. Notwithstanding this, because it is a summary, it may not contain all the information that you may otherwise deem important. For more complete information, you should read the entire Memorandum and Articles of Association, which has been filed with the SEC as an exhibit to our Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-233016), initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 5, 2019.

 

Type and Class of Securities (Item 9.A.5 of Form 20-F)

 

Each ordinary share has a par value of US$0.001 each. The number of ordinary shares that have been issued as of the last day of the financial year ended December 31, 2020 is provided on the cover of the annual report on Form 20-F filed in April 2021 (the “2020 Form 20-F”). Our ordinary shares may be held in either certificated or uncertificated form.

 

Preemptive Rights (Item 9.A.3 of Form 20-F)

 

The ordinary shares are not subject to any pre-emptive or similar rights under the Companies Act or pursuant to the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

 

Limitations or Qualifications (Item 9.A.6 of Form 20-F)

 

Each ordinary share entitles the holder thereof to one vote on all matters subject to the vote at general meetings of our company, voting together as one class.

 

Rights of Other Types of Securities (Item 9.A.7 of Form 20-F)

 

Not applicable.

 

Rights of ordinary shares (Item 10.B.3 of Form 20-F)

 

Ordinary Shares

 

Our authorized share capital is US$50,000 divided into 50,000,000 Ordinary Shares, par value $0.001 per share. All of our issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares are fully paid and non-assessable. Certificates representing the Ordinary Shares are issued in registered form.

 

 
1

 

 

Dividends

 

The holders of our ordinary shares are entitled to such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors or declared by our shareholders by ordinary resolution (provided that no dividend may be declared by our shareholders which exceeds the amount recommended by our directors). Our Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that dividends may be declared and paid out of funds of our Company lawfully available therefor. Under the laws of the Cayman Islands, our company may pay a dividend out of either profit or share premium account, provided that in no circumstances may a dividend be paid if this would result in our company being unable to pay its debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business.

 

Voting Rights

 

Subject to any rights or restrictions as to voting attached to any shares, unless any share carries special voting rights, on a show of hands every shareholder who is present in person and every person representing a shareholder by proxy shall have one vote per Ordinary Share. On a poll, every shareholder who is present in person and every person representing a shareholder by proxy shall have one vote for each share of which he or the person represented by proxy is the holder. In addition, all shareholders holding shares of a particular class are entitled to vote at a meeting of the holders of that class of shares. Votes may be given either personally or by proxy.

 

Transfer of Ordinary Shares

 

The instrument of transfer of any ordinary share shall be in writing and in any usual or common form or in a form prescribed by Nasdaq or such other form approved by our board of directors and be executed by or on behalf of the transferor or, if the transferor or transferee is a clearing house in the United States, by hand or by electronic machine imprinted signature or by such other manner of execution as the Board may approve from time to time.

 

The instrument of transfer shall be executed by or on behalf of the transferor and the transferee provided that our board of directors may dispense with the execution of the instrument of transfer by the transferee in any case which it thinks fit in its discretion to do so.

 

Our board of directors may, in its absolute discretion, and without giving any reason therefore, decline to register any transfer of any ordinary share that has not been fully paid up, issued under any share incentive plan for employees upon which a restriction on transfer still subsists, or is subject to a company lien. Our board of directors may also decline to register any transfer of such ordinary share unless:

 

 

(a)

a fee of such maximum sum as Nasdaq may determine to be payable or such lesser sum as our board of directors may from time to time require is paid to us in respect thereof;

 

 

 

 

(b)

the instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class of shares;

 

 

 

 

(c)

the shares transferred are fully paid up and free of any lien;

 

 

 

 

(d)

the instrument of transfer is lodged at the registered office or such other place at which the our register of members is kept in accordance with the accompanied by any relevant share certificate(s) and/or such other evidence as our board of directors may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer (and, if the instrument of transfer is executed by some other person on his behalf, the authority of that person so to do); and

 

 

 

 

(e)

if applicable, the instrument of transfer is duly and properly stamped.

 

 
2

 

 

If our directors refuse to register a transfer, they are required, within one month after the date on which the instrument of transfer was lodged, to send to each of the transferor and the transferee notice of such refusal.

 

The registration of transfers may, after compliance with any notice requirement of Nasdaq, be suspended and our register of members closed at such times and for such periods (not exceeding in the whole thirty (30) days in any year) as our board of directors may from time to time determine.

 

Liquidation

 

On the winding up of our company, if the assets available for distribution among our shareholders shall be more than sufficient to repay the whole of the share capital at the commencement of the winding up, the surplus shall be distributed among our shareholders in proportion to the capital paid up, or which ought to have been paid up, at the commencement of the winding up, on the shares held by them respectively. If in a winding up the assets available for distribution amongst the shareholders shall be more than sufficient to repay the whole of the capital paid up at the commencement of the winding up, the excess shall be distributed pari passu amongst the shareholders in proportion to the capital paid up at the commencement of the winding up on the shares held by them respectively. Our Articles of Association is to be without prejudice to the rights of the holders of shares issued upon special terms and conditions.

 

Calls on Ordinary Shares and Forfeiture of Ordinary Shares

 

Our board of directors may from time to time make calls upon shareholders for any amounts unpaid on their ordinary shares in a notice served to such shareholders at least 14 clear days in advance. The notice shall name a further day on or before which the payment required by the notice is to be made and where the payment is required to be made to.

 

A call may be required to be paid by installments. A call may, before we receive any sum due thereunder, be revoked in whole or in part and payment of a call may be postponed in whole or in part. A person upon whom a call is made shall remain liable for calls made upon him notwithstanding the subsequent transfer of the shares in respect of which the call was made.

 

Requirements to Change the Rights of Holders of Ordinary Shares (Item 10.B.4 of Form 20-F)

 

Variations of Rights of Shares

 

Whenever our capital is divided into different classes of shares, the rights attaching to any class of share (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class) may be varied with the consent in writing of all of the holders of the issued shares of that class or with the sanction of a special resolution passed at a separate meeting of the holders of the shares of that class. The necessary quorum shall be one or more persons holding or representing by proxy at least one-third in nominal or par value amount of the issued shares of the relevant class (but so that if at any adjourned meeting of such holders a quorum as above defined is not present, those shareholders who are present shall form a quorum).

 

Unless the terms on which a class of shares was issued state otherwise, the rights conferred on the shareholder holding shares of any class shall not be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further shares ranking pari passu with the existing shares of that class or subsequent to them or the redemption or purchase of any shares of any class by our company. The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class issued shall not be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of shares with preferred or other rights including, without limitation, the creation of shares with enhanced or weighted voting rights.

 

 
3

 

 

Limitations on the Rights to Own Ordinary Shares (Item 10.B.6 of Form 20-F)

 

There are no limitations under the laws of the Cayman Islands or under the Memorandum and Articles of Association that limit the right of non-resident or foreign owners to hold or vote ordinary shares.

 

Provisions Affecting Any Change of Control (Item 10.B.7 of Form 20-F)

 

Anti-Takeover Provisions. Some provisions of our Memorandum and Articles of Association may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or management that shareholders may consider favorable, including provisions that authorize our board of directors to issue preference shares in one or more series and to designate the price, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of such preference shares without any further vote or action by our shareholders.

 

However, under Cayman Islands law, our directors may only exercise the rights and powers granted to them under our Memorandum and Articles of Association for a proper purpose and for what they believe in good faith to be in the best interests of our company.

 

Ownership Threshold (Item 10.B.8 of Form 20-F)

 

There are no provisions under the Companies Act or under the Memorandum and Articles of Association that govern the ownership threshold above which shareholder ownership must be disclosed.

 

Differences Between the Law of Different Jurisdictions (Item 10.B.9 of Form 20-F)

 

The Cayman Companies Act is derived, to a large extent, from the older Companies Acts of England and Wales but does not follow recent United Kingdom statutory enactments, and accordingly there are significant differences between the Cayman Companies Act and the current Companies Act of England. In addition, the Cayman Companies Act differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of certain significant differences between the provisions of the Cayman Companies Act applicable to us and the comparable laws applicable to companies incorporated in the State of Delaware in the United States.

 

Mergers and Similar Arrangements

 

The Cayman Companies Act provides for the mergers or consolidation of two or more companies in a single entity. The legislation makes a distinction between a “consolidation” and a “merger”. In a consolidation, a new entity is formed from the combination of each participating company, and the separate consolidating parties, as a consequence, cease to exist and are each stricken by the Registrar of Companies. In a merger, one company remains as the surviving party, having in effect absorbed the other merging parties that are then stricken and cease to exist.

 

 
4

 

 

Two or more Cayman-registered companies may merge or consolidate. Cayman-registered companies may also merge or consolidate with foreign companies provided that the laws of the foreign jurisdiction permit such merger or consolidation.

 

Under the new rules, a plan of merger or consolidation shall be authorized by each constituent company by way of (i) a special resolution of the members of each such constituent company; and (ii) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s memorandum and articles of association.

 

A merger between a Cayman parent company and its Cayman subsidiary or subsidiaries does not require authorization by a resolution of shareholders of that Cayman subsidiary if a copy of the plan of merger is given to every member of that Cayman subsidiary to be merged unless that member agrees otherwise. For this purpose a subsidiary is a company of which at least 90% of the issued shares entitled to vote are owned by the parent company.

 

The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest over a constituent company is required unless this requirement is waived by a court in the Cayman Islands.

 

Save in certain circumstances, a dissentient shareholder of a Cayman Islands constituent company is entitled to payment of the fair value of his or her shares upon dissenting to a merger or consolidation. The exercise of appraisal rights will preclude the exercise of any other save for the right to seek relief on the grounds that the merger or consolidation is void or unlawful.

 

In addition, there are statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction and amalgamation of companies, provided that the arrangement is approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made, and who must, in addition, represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting, or meetings, convened for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder has the right to express to the court the view that the transaction ought not to be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it determines that:

 

(a) the statutory provisions as to the required majority vote have been met;

(b) the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question and the statutory majority are acting bona fide without coercion of the minority to promote interests adverse to those of the class;

(c) the arrangement is such that may be reasonably approved by an intelligent and honest man of that class acting in respect of his interest; and

(d) the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Cayman Companies Act.

 

When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares affected within four months the offeror may, within a two-month period commencing on the expiration of such four-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed in the case of an offer which has been so approved unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith or collusion.

 

 
5

 

 

If an arrangement and reconstruction is thus approved, or if a takeover offer is made and accepted, a dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights, which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of Delaware corporations, providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares.

 

Shareholders’ Suits

 

In principle, we will normally be the proper plaintiff and as a general rule, a derivative action may not be brought by a minority shareholder. However, based on English law authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority in the Cayman Islands, there are exceptions to the foregoing principle, including when:

 

(a) a company acts or proposes to act illegally or ultra vires;

(b) the act complained of, although not ultra vires, could only be effected duly if authorized by more than a simple majority vote that has not been obtained; and

(c) those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority”.

 

Class actions and derivative actions generally are available to shareholders under Delaware law for, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste and actions not taken in accordance with applicable law. In such actions, the court generally has discretion to permit the winning party to recover attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with such action.

 

Indemnification of Directors and Executive Officers and Limitation of Liability

 

The Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against the consequences of committing a crime or against the indemnified person’s own fraud or dishonesty.

 

This standard of conduct is generally the same as permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law for a Delaware corporation.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

Directors’ Fiduciary Duties

 

Under Delaware corporate law, a director of a Delaware corporation has a fiduciary duty to the corporation and its shareholders. This duty has two components: the duty of care and the duty of loyalty. The duty of care requires that a director act in good faith, with the care that an ordinarily prudent person would exercise under similar circumstances. Under this duty, a director must inform himself of, and disclose to shareholders, all material information reasonably available regarding a significant transaction. The duty of loyalty requires that a director act in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation. He or she must not use his or her corporate position for personal gain or advantage. This duty prohibits self-dealing by a director and mandates that the best interests of the corporation and its shareholders take precedence over any interest possessed by a director, officer or controlling shareholder and not shared by the shareholders generally. In general, actions of a director are presumed to have been made on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the corporation. However, this presumption may be rebutted by evidence of a breach of one of the fiduciary duties. Should such evidence be presented concerning a transaction by a director, a director must prove the procedural fairness of the transaction, and that the transaction was of fair value to the corporation.

 

 
6

 

 

As a matter of Cayman Islands law, directors of Cayman Islands companies owe fiduciary duties to their respective companies to, amongst other things, act in good faith in their dealings with or on behalf of the company and exercise their powers and fulfill the duties of their office honestly. Core duties are:

 

a duty to act in good faith in what the directors bona fide consider to be the best interest of the company (and in this regard, it should be noted that the duty is owed to the company and not to associate companies, subsidiaries or holding companies);

 

a duty not to personally profit from opportunities that arise from the office of director;

 

a duty of trusteeship of the company’s assets;

 

a duty not to put himself in a position where the structures of a company conflict of his or her personal interest on his or her duty to a third party to avoid conflicts of interest; and

 

a duty to exercise powers for the purpose for which such powers were conferred.

 

Shareholder Proposals

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a shareholder has the right to put any proposal before the annual meeting of shareholders, provided it complies with the notice provisions in the governing documents. The Delaware General Corporation Law does not provide shareholders an express right to put any proposal before the annual meeting of shareholders, but in keeping with common law, Delaware corporations generally afford shareholders an opportunity to make proposals and nominations provided that they comply with the notice provisions in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws. A special meeting may be called by the board of directors or any other person authorized to do so in the governing documents, but shareholders may be precluded from calling special meetings.

 

The Cayman Companies Act does not provide shareholders any rights to bring business before a meeting or requisition a general meeting. However, these rights may be provided in the company’s memorandum and articles of association.

 

Cumulative Voting

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, cumulative voting for elections of directors is not permitted unless the corporation’s certificate of incorporation specifically provides for it. Cumulative voting potentially facilitates the representation of minority shareholders on a board of directors since it permits the minority shareholder to cast all the votes to which the shareholder is entitled on a single director, which increases the shareholder’s voting power with respect to electing such director. As permitted under the Cayman Companies Act, our articles do not provide for cumulative voting. As a result, our shareholders are not afforded any less protections or rights on this issue than shareholders of a Delaware corporation.

 

Under the Cayman Companies law, there is no cumulative voting for the election of directors unless so provided in the memorandum and articles of association.

 

 
7

 

  

Removal of Directors

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a director of a corporation with a classified board may be removed only for cause with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Subject to the provisions of our articles, the office of a director may be terminated forthwith if (a) he is prohibited by the law of the Cayman Islands from acting as a director, (b) he is made bankrupt or makes an arrangement or composition with his creditors generally, (c) he resigns his office by notice to us, (d) he only held office as a director for a fixed term and such term expires, (e) in the opinion of a registered medical practitioner by whom he is being treated he becomes physically or mentally incapable of acting as a director, (f) he is given notice by the majority of the other directors (not being less than two in number) to vacate office (without prejudice to any claim for damages for breach of any agreement relating to the provision of the services of such director), (g) he is made subject to any law relating to mental health or incompetence, whether by court order or otherwise, or (h) without the consent of the other directors, he is absent from meetings of directors for continuous period of six months.

 

Under the Cayman Companies law, removal of directors is governed by the terms of the memorandum and articles of association.

 

Transactions with Interested Shareholders

 

The Delaware General Corporation Law contains a business combination statute applicable to Delaware public corporations whereby, unless the corporation has specifically elected not to be governed by such statute by amendment to its certificate of incorporation or bylaws that is approved by its shareholders, it is prohibited from engaging in certain business combinations with an “interested shareholder” for three years following the date that such person becomes an interested shareholder. An interested shareholder generally is a person or a group who or which owns or owned 15% or more of the target’s outstanding voting stock or who or which is an affiliate or associate of the corporation and owned 15% or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock within the past three years. This has the effect of limiting the ability of a potential acquirer to make a two-tiered bid for the target in which all shareholders would not be treated equally. The statute does not apply if, among other things, prior to the date on which such shareholder becomes an interested shareholder, the board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the person becoming an interested shareholder. This encourages any potential acquirer of a Delaware corporation to negotiate the terms of any acquisition transaction with the target’s board of directors.

 

The Cayman Companies Act has no comparable statute. As a result, we cannot avail ourselves of the types of protections afforded by the Delaware business combination statute. However, although the Cayman Companies Act does not regulate transactions between a company and its significant shareholders, under Cayman Islands law such transactions must be entered into bona fide in the best interests of the company and for a proper corporate purpose and not with the effect of constituting a fraud on the minority shareholders.

 

Dissolution; Winding Up

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, unless the board of directors approves the proposal to dissolve, dissolution must be approved by shareholders holding 100% of the total voting power of the corporation. Only if the dissolution is initiated by the board of directors may it be approved by a simple majority of the corporation’s outstanding shares. Delaware law allows a Delaware corporation to include in its certificate of incorporation a supermajority voting requirement in connection with dissolutions initiated by the board of directors.

 

Under the Cayman Companies Act, our company may be wound up by a special resolution of our shareholders, or if the winding up is initiated by our board of directors, by either a special resolution of our members or, if our company is unable to pay its debts as they fall due, by an ordinary resolution of our members. In addition, a company may be wound up by an order of the courts of the Cayman Islands. The court has authority to order winding up in a number of specified circumstances including where it is, in the opinion of the court, just and equitable to do so.

 

Variation of Rights of Shares

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation may vary the rights of a class of shares with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares of such class, unless the certificate of incorporation provides otherwise.

 

 
8

 

  

Under our articles, if our share capital is divided into more than one class of shares, the rights attaching to any class of share (unless otherwise provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class) may be varied either with the consent in writing of the holders of not less than two-thirds of the issued shares of that class, or with the sanction of a resolution passed by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the holders of shares of the class present in person or by proxy at a separate general meeting of the holders of shares of that class.

 

Amendment of Governing Documents

 

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, a corporation’s certificate of incorporation may be amended only if adopted and declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, and the bylaws may be amended with the approval of a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote and may, if so provided in the certificate of incorporation, also be amended by the board of directors. Under the Cayman Companies Act, our articles may only be amended by special resolution of our shareholders.

  

Changes in Capital (Item 10.B.10 of Form 20-F)

 

We may from time to time by ordinary resolution:

 

increase the share capital by such sum, to be divided into shares of such amount, as the resolution shall prescribe;

 

consolidate and divide all or any of our share capital into shares of a larger amount than our existing shares;

 

 

 

 

convert all or any of our paid up shares into stock, and reconvert that stock into paid up shares of any denomination;

 

sub-divide our existing shares, or any of them into shares of a smaller amount than that fixed by the our Memorandum of Association; and

 

 

 

 

cancel any shares that, at the date of the passing of the resolution, have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person and diminish the amount of its share capital by the amount of the ordinary shares so cancelled.

 

We may by special resolution, subject to any confirmation or consent required by the Companies Act, reduce our share capital or any capital redemption reserve in any manner permitted by law.

 

Debt Securities (Item 12.A of Form 20-F)

 

Not applicable.

 

Warrants and Rights (Item 12.B of Form 20-F)

 

Not applicable.

  

Other Securities (Item 12.C of Form 20-F)

 

Not applicable.

 

Description of American Depositary Shares (Items 12.D.1 and 12.D.2 of Form 20-F)

 

Not applicable.

 

 
9