§ 26A — Annual statements; required information; certification; fee; violations; penalties

Section 26A. (1) Every corporation heretofore or hereafter organized under general or special law for any purpose mentioned in section four, every corporation to which the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty-six do not apply and which is licensed to conduct a horse racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair, and every corporation organized for the purpose of conducting a school of medicine, shall annually, on or before November first, prepare and submit to the state secretary a certificate which shall be signed under the penalties of perjury by an officer of such corporation, stating:—the name of the corporation;the location (with street address) of its principal office or headquarters;the date of its last preceding annual meeting;the names and addresses of all the officers and directors, or officers having the powers of directors, of the corporation, and the date at which the term of office of each expires.(2) Every corporation licensed to conduct a horse racing meeting in connection with a state or county fair shall include in the certificate required by the first paragraph a statement of its assets, liabilities, income and expenditures, in such form as the state secretary shall prescribe, and such certificate shall be accompanied by a written statement verified on oath by an auditor which shall be attached to and form a part of such certificate. The auditor shall state that he has examined the statement of assets and liabilities included in such certificate, that his examination was made in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, and that in his opinion said statement of assets and liabilities presents fairly the financial position of the corporation as of the date thereof, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. No director, officer or employee of the corporation shall be selected as auditor.(3) The state secretary shall examine such certificate, and if he finds that it conforms to the requirements of this chapter he shall, upon payment of a fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, file the same in his office.(4) If the corporation fails to submit its certificate for two successive years, the state secretary shall give notice thereof by mail, postage prepaid, to such corporation in default. Failure of such corporation to submit the required certificates within ninety days after the notice of default has been given shall be sufficient cause for the revocation of its charter by the state secretary.(5) This section shall not apply to a church or religious organization, a non-profit school or college, a corporation organized prior to January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, under the laws of this commonwealth and having as part of its name the name of a political party as defined by law, a charitable hospital, or a library association whose real or personal property is exempt from taxation.(6) Other provisions of this section notwithstanding, any group or organization heretofore or hereafter organized under this chapter for any purpose mentioned in section four, and to which section forty-four of chapter three would otherwise apply, may provide the information required in said section forty-four on the dates required therein to the state secretary, in such form as he may prescribe, a copy of which shall be filed with the statement required by section forty-four of chapter three, in addition to all other information required under this section provided that any such group or organization which elects to proceed hereunder but which does not comply fully with the terms of this paragraph shall be subject to the penalties and provisions set forth in sections forty-six and forty-seven of said chapter three.