Under the Bylaws of IOC, Directors may be removed in the following manner:
Under Bylaws #2, Section 13. Removal. "Subject to the provisions of the Act, the shareholders of the Corporation may by ordinary resolution at a special meeting remove any director from office before the expiration of his or her term of office and may, subject to the provisions of the Act and Paragraph 11 of this by-law, elect any person in his or her stead for the remainder of the director's term."
Regarding the removal of an Officer [such as the CEO}, Under Bylaws #2, Section 32, Removal of Officers and Vacation of Office. "Subject to the articles, all officers, employees and agents, shall be subject to removal by resolution of the directors at any time, with or without cause."
Thus, a Special Meeting would need to be called for the purpose of 1] the removal of the Directors of IOC and 2] a vote to replace said directors with new directors for the remainder of the directors' terms. Once the new directors are in place, they can remove the CEO by resolutin and without cause.
In order for the shareholders to call such a Special Meeting, the provisions of Section 46 apply: Meeting on Requisition of Shareholders. "The registered holders or beneficial owners of not less than five percent (5%) of the issued shares of the Corporation that carry the right to vote at a meeting sought to be held may requisition the directors to call a meeting of shareholders for the purposes stated in the requisition. The requisition shall state the business to be transacted at the meeting and shall be sent to each director and to the registered office of the Corporation. Subject to the provisions of the Act, upon receipt of the requisition, the directors shall call a meeting of shareholders to transact the business stated in the requisition. If the directors do not within twenty-one days after receiving the requisition call a meeting, any registered or beneficial shareholder who signed the requisition may call the meeting."
Phil used this provision earlier this year and right now, Phil is the only individual with enough shares to call such a Special Meeting. He will have to petition the Yukon Supreme Court to have his requisition for a Special Meeting upheld [recall that IOC forced him to do this in May for the Special Meeting held in conjunction with the AGM]. If Phil chooses to go this route, the currend BOD could be replaced and the CEO could be removed without cause. Notice of the Special Meeting would need to be provided to all shareholders and directors, along with details of the reason for the Special Meeting between 21 and 50 days prior to the Special Meeting.
It will be interesting to see if Phil chooses this course of action to block IOC's seeming attempt to go through with the Exxon deal as it stands, albeit with a new fairness opinion.