ADAPTING TO CHANGE AND EMBRACING VIRTUALITY: THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON GENERAL MEETINGS
ADAPTING TO CHANGE AND EMBRACING VIRTUALITY: THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON GENERAL MEETINGS

Summary/Abstract: The global COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed how annual general meetings are held in joint stock companies, and the appearance of virtual formats has spread widely. The main advantage of virtual general meetings is the possibility of the participation of a significant number of company shareholders and the reduction of the costs of participation and general holding of general meetings. On the other hand, hosting virtual general meetings introduces various technical and security challenges. Recently there has been a noticeable legislative phenomenon of solutions adopted throughout Europe that permanently enabled joint stock companies to hold their annual general meetingsin a virtual-only format, replacing the temporary Covid-19 pandemic emergency acts. Considering that they have significant implications for broader corporate governance issues, including board accountability, shareholder activism, and corporate social responsibility, this paper seeks to include perspectives of different stakeholders involved in virtual general meetings, including minority shareholders, institutional investors, and company directors while examining legal options available to the legislator regarding the introduction of fully virtual meetings.The comparative legal development of this institute in German, Slovenian, and Dutch law, followed by Croatian law, provided by the comparative overview of the evolution of holding virtual general meetings before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic is being especially taken into account.

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