GLOBAL - A shareholder activist is facing jail after being ejected at State Street Corp.'s annual meeting, according to a filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Shareholder activist Patrick Jorstad said in the filing that the Boston-based bank has pressed criminal charges against his partner David Smith.

Smith and Jorstad are former employees and long time campaigners against what they say are corporate governance irregularities at the company. These relate to chairman and chief executive Ron Logue's brother as well as a so-called "poison pill arrangement".

According to the filing, Smith was led into Boston Municipal Court following the meeting in April "handcuffed and in leg irons".

The criminal trespass charge against Smith is still pending, with the next public hearing on the matter scheduled for October 19.

"Mr. Smith faces up to 30 days in jail, and/or a fine, if convicted of the misdemeanor charge," the filing states. Jorstad himself was ejected from the meeting while attempting to question Logue, the filing adds.

State Street declined comment.

Jorstad, who owns 331 shares, is requesting a special shareholders meeting on October 13 to eject Nader Darehshori from the board due to his ties with Logue's brother George.

Darehshori, former chief executive of Houghton Mifflin, is chairman of Cambium Learning - where George Logue is also an executive.

Jorstad and Smith have sparred with the bank since the late 1990s.

They need the support of 40% of shareholders to force a special meeting.