Microsoft's board of directors is recommending a new policy that would let its investors call special shareholder meetings when they collectively represent at least 25 percent of the company's outstanding shares. The news was announced late this afternoon in conjunction with a 13 cent-per-share quarterly dividend.

The new policy is set for a vote at the company's November shareholder meeting.

If it passes, the policy could come into play on big turning points such as controversial mergers or acquisitions. Under the proposal, shareholders would need to band together to call a special meeting -- no Microsoft investor individually holds enough shares to qualify. Bill Gates, the company's largest shareholder, currently owns about 8 percent of the company's outstanding shares.

John Seethoff, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a news release that the ability to call special meetings "is increasingly considered an important shareholder right."

Update, Thursday: Seethoff goes into more details in a blog post.

"The board’s proposal is another step in balancing the roles of shareholders and directors in governing our company," he writes. "We believe the 25 percent threshold level of share ownership maintains an appropriate equilibrium by ensuring that a special meeting is supported by shareholders representing a significant but attainable proportion of the outstanding shares."