As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, 2004
Registration No. 333-
United States
Securities and Exchange Commission
Form S-8
General Electric Company
New York (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
14-0689340 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
3135 Easton Turnpike
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
GE 1990 LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
(Full title of the plan)
Michael R. McAlevey
Chief Corporate & Securities Counsel
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, Connecticut 06828
(Name and address of agent for service)
(203) 373-2967
(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Calculation of Registration Fee
Title of each class of |
Amount to be registered (1) |
Proposed maximum offering |
Proposed maximum |
Amount of registration fee |
Common Stock, $0.06 par value |
100,000,000 shares |
$32.385 |
$3,238,500,000.00 |
$410,317.95 |
(1) Plus such additional shares as may be issued by reason of stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
(2) Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(c), based on the average of the high and low prices for the Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange Composite Tape for July 26, 2004.
(1)
Registration of Additional Securities
Incorporation of Earlier Registration Statement by Reference
General Electric Company ("GE") hereby incorporates by reference into this Registration Statement the contents of the Form S-8 Registration Statement filed on behalf of GE on March 28, 2001 (Reg. No. 333-57734).
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference
By this reference, the Company hereby incorporates into this Registration Statement the following documents filed by the Company:
In addition, all documents subsequently filed by the Company
pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which
indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all
securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by
reference in this registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date
of filing of such documents.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel
The Company's Corporate and Securities Counsel, Thomas J. Kim, has passed upon the validity of the shares of GE common stock to be issued under the plans identified above. Mr. Kim beneficially owns or has rights to acquire an aggregate of less than 0.01% of the Company's common stock.
Section 721 of the New York Business Corporation Law ("NYBCL") provides that, in addition to indemnification provided in Article 7 of the NYBCL, a corporation may indemnify a director or officer by a provision contained in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws or by a duly authorized resolution of its stockholders or directors or by agreement, provided that no indemnification may be made to or on behalf of any director or officer if a judgment or other final adjudication adverse to the director or officer establishes that his acts were committed in bad faith or were the result of active and deliberate dishonesty and were material to the cause of action so adjudicated, or that he personally gained in fact a financial profit or other advantage to which he was not legally entitled.
Section 722(a) of the NYBCL provides that a corporation may indemnify a director or officer made, or threatened to be made, a party to any action other than a derivative action, whether civil or criminal, against judgments, fines, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses actually and necessarily incurred as a result of such action, if such director or officer acted, in good faith, for a purpose which he reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation and, in criminal actions or proceedings, in addition, had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.
(2)
Section 722(c) of the NYBCL provides that a corporation may indemnify a director or officer, made or threatened to be made a party in a derivative action, against amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses actually and necessarily incurred by him in connection with the defense or settlement of such action, or in connection with an appeal therein if such director or officer acted, in good faith, for a purpose which he reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification will be available under Section 722(c) of the NYBCL in respect of (1) a threatened or pending action which is settled or otherwise disposed of, or (2) any claim as to which such director or officer shall have been adjudged liable to the corporation, unless and only to the extent that the court in which the action was brought, or, if no action was brought, any court of competent jurisdiction, determines upon application, that, in view of all the circumstances of the case, the director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such portion of the settlement amount and expenses as the court deems proper.
Section 723 of the NYBCL specifies the manner in which payment of indemnification under Section 722 of the NYBCL or indemnification permitted under Section 721 of the NYBCL may be authorized by the corporation. It provides that indemnification by a corporation is mandatory in any case in which the director or officer has been successful, whether on the merits or otherwise, in defending an action. In the event that the director or officer has not been successful or the action is settled, indemnification must be authorized by the appropriate corporate action as set forth in Section 723.
Section 724 of the NYBCL provides that, upon application by a director or officer, indemnification may be awarded by a court to the extent authorized under Section 722 and Section 723 of the NYBCL. Section 725 of the NYBCL contains certain other miscellaneous provisions affecting the indemnification of directors and officers.
Section 726 of the NYBCL authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance to indemnify (1) a corporation for any obligation which it incurs as a result of the indemnification of directors and officers under the provisions of Article 7 of the NYBCL, (2) directors and officers in instances in which they may be indemnified by a corporation under the provisions of Article 7 of the NYBCL, and (3) directors and officers in instances in which they may not otherwise be indemnified by a corporation under such section, provided the contract of insurance covering such directors and officers provides, in a manner acceptable to the New York State Superintendent of Insurance, for a retention amount and for co-insurance.
Section 6 of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, of the Registrant provides in part as follows:
A person who is or was a director of the corporation shall have no personal liability to the corporation or its stockholders for damages for any breach of duty in such capacity except that the foregoing shall not eliminate or limit liability where such liability is imposed under the Business Corporation Law of the State of New York.
Article XI of the bylaws, as amended, of GE provides, in part, as follows:
(3)
The Registrant has purchased certain liability insurance for its officers and directors as permitted by Section 727 of the NYBCL.
Item 8. Exhibits.
See Exhibit Index.
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(4)
Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-3, Form S-8, or Form F-3, and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.
(2) That, for purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act as is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(5)
Signatures
The Registrant. Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all the requirements for filing on Form S-8, and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the Town of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, on August 2, 2004.
GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
/s/ Philip D. Ameen
By: Philip D. Ameen
Vice President and Comptroller
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated.
Name |
Title |
Date |
*Jeffrey R. Immelt. |
Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
August 2, 2004 |
*Keith S. Sherin |
Senior Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
August 2, 2004 |
*Philip D. Ameen |
Vice President and Comptroller (Principal Accounting Officer) |
August 2, 2004 |
*James I. Cash, Jr. |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Sir William Castell |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Dennis D. Dammerman |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Ann M. Fudge |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Claudio X. Gonzalez |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Andrea Jung |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Alan G. Lafley |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Kenneth G. Langone |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Ralph S. Larsen |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Roger S. Penske |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Robert J. Swieringa |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Douglas A. Warner III |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
*Robert C. Wright |
Director |
August 2, 2004 |
A Majority of the Board of Directors
*By: /s/ Michael R. McAlevey
Michael R. McAlevey
Attorney-in-Fact
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Index to Exhibits
Exhibit 4 |
Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws of the Registrant, as amended and currently in effect (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3 to Registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed April 27, 2000) |
Exhibit 5 |
Opinion of Thomas J. Kim, Esq.* |
Exhibit 23(a) : Exhibit 23(b) |
Consent of KPMG LLP* Consent of Thomas J. Kim, Esq. (included in Opinion filed as Exhibit 5) |
Exhibit 24(a): |
Power of Attorney of certain Officers and Directors of GE* |
__________________
*Filed electronically herewith
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