Before the end of August 2022, the virtual format will have a new legal framework. What changes?
Introduced in April 2020 as a Corona emergency solution, extended several times, in the future permanently in the German Stock Corporation Act: With the virtual general meeting according to Section 118a AktG nF, the legislator is providing public limited companies with a new meeting format. There is a lot that is familiar from the last two years – such as the limited participation of shareholders by electronic means, the electronic form of exercising voting rights and the advance publication of the CEO speech. Other things are changing: In the future, shareholders will have the right to speak live via video and to ask questions and motions at the current meeting. And perhaps most importantly, after a transition period has expired, the new format will only be available to companies that expressly include an opt-in rule in their articles of association.
We have summarized all important information and materials on the new regulation for you on our legislative project page . You can look up what the legal changes look like in detail in our change-marked reading versions of the regulations concerned.
For further information, please contact:
Staffan Illert, Partner, Linklaters
staffan.illert@linklaters.com
