Shareholders’ Rights and Obligations

It provides guidance to shareholders, directors, supervisory directors, general counsel and their attorneys to promote a better understanding of the rights, but also the obligations, of shareholders. Besides, this guide provides all those concerned with practical information on the relevant dispute resolution systems.

Shareholders are important stakeholders of companies. In recent times the position of shareholders has become more and more scrutinized, partly as a result of activist measures they have taken, sometimes resulting in the breaking up of large corporations. At the other hand of the spectrum we see minority shareholders being marginalised and even forced to transfer their shares.Questions that arise in these and similar situations are, amongst others: how can the management board of the company block what it deems destructive action by shareholders, but also: what can shareholders do in the event that the value of their shares decreases as a result of actions by management or third parties? As a result there are many relationships concerning companies in which shareholders play a role. The role of a shareholder may depend on the type of company, but also on the type of shareholder (activist vs. long term investor), the type of shares, and the articles of incorporation and shareholders agreements.This practical handbook provides an overview of these and other relevant legal issues concerning shareholders in some 25 of the most important business nations around the globe. It provides guidance to shareholders, directors, supervisory directors, general counsel and their attorneys to promote a better understanding of the rights, but also the obligations, of shareholders. Besides, this guide provides all those concerned with practical information on the relevant dispute resolution systems.

Introduction 5Marcel WillemsFieldfisher NVArgentina 7Tomás M ArayaIván Bovio MarencoM&M BomchilAustralia 37Ian WalkerWARD LawyersAustria 81Arno BrauneisPhilipp Gamaufbkp Rechtsanwälte GmbHBelgium 103Charles-Antoine della FailleYves LendersLydianBrazil 155Thomas Benes FelsbergMaria da Graça de Brito Vianna PedrettiMarcus Alexandre Matteucci GomesFabiana Bruno Solano PereiraPaulo Fernando Campana FilhoFelsberg AdvogadosCanada 171Matti LemmensBorden Ladner Gervais LLPChina 189Rogier van BijnenR&P China LawyersCzech Republic 213Ernst GieseJaroslava TrojanováGiese & PartnerDenmark 239Carsten CeutzMorten KrogsgaardBech-BruunFinland 267Oona FromholdtMentula & Väätäinen Attorneys LtdPekka JaatinenIlari MustonenCastrén & Snellman Attorneys LtdFrance 285Amélie DorstAnja Droege GagnierBMH AvocatsGermany 311Peter FissenewertBuse Heberer FrommHungary 337Sándor NémethAdrienn TarSzecskay Attorneys at LawIreland 363Frank FlanaganNicholas MetcalfeMason Hayes & CurranItaly 397Flavio Acerbi5LexSilvio CavalloPillarstoneGiulio Gomitoni5LexPaolo ManganelliAshurstCosimo PennettaRCC Lex LtdJapan 435Naoya AriyoshiMakoto ShimizuShingo YamadaNishimura & AsahiLuxembourg 455Chan ParkPhilippe ThiebaudMOLITOR Avocats à la CourNetherlands 491Marcel WillemsFieldfisher NVNorway 537Thomas FjellJohan Christian KongsliGrettePortugal 563Miguel de Avillez PereiraSusana MorgadoCarlos SoaresGómez-Acebo & PomboSlovakia 599Slavomir CˇauderZuzana FrancúzováGiese & PartnerSpain 631María Luisa de AlarcónNuria ClementeJAUSASSweden 657Jesper GrünbaumJohan StrömbäckSetterwallsSwitzerland 677Benedict F ChristDavid JennyReto MarghitolaVischer AGUnited Kingdom 693Christine PhillipsFieldfisher LLPUnited States 721J Travis LasterCourt of Chancery of the State of DelawareJohn L ReedHenry duPont RidgelyDLA Piper LLP (US)About the authors 765