Virtual General Meetings: Corporate Law

Permanent regulations on virtual general meetings passed

On 27 April 2022, the Federal Cabinet adopted the draft law submitted by the BMJ on the introduction of virtual general meetings of public limited companies and amendments to other regulations.

As a result of the measures to contain the COVID 19 pandemic, the legislator has created the possibility to hold general meetings exclusively in virtual for. Against the background of the fundamentally positive experience and the advancing digitalisation of stock corporation law, the virtual general meeting is to be introduced as a permanent provision in the AktG. The draft ensures the exercise of shareholders’ rights (right to information, right to speak, right to propose motions, right to vote and right to object to resolutions of the general meeting) when the general meeting is held in virtual format and contains modifications so that shareholders’ rights can also be guaranteed in virtual format.

Considering the background and the fundamentally positive experience gained in the last two years and the advancing digitalisation of stock corporation law, the virtual general meeting is to be given a permanent, further developed regulation in the Stock Corporation Act (AktG), which in particular aims to make the level of the exercise of rights by the shareholders comparable to that of the attendance meeting and at the same time to achieve an equalisation of the meeting required by the virtual format.

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