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Belgium allows remote participation and voting at shareholders' meetings

February 2021

5 February 2021 - As of 20 December 2020, a new regulation in Belgium was implemented allowing members of such types of entities, as SA/NV, SRL/BV, SC/CV, and A(I)SBL/(I)VZW, to participate in their shareholder’s meeting remotely. In other words, it means that even if a Company’s Constitution states otherwise, online meetings will still be allowed and considered in line with the law. In order to proceed, entities must fulfill the following criteria:

  1. The identity of a shareholder must be verified. It can be done using various tele and video tools;
  2. Directors of the company shall send out a shareholder’s meeting notice prior to that, addressing the procedure of the scheduled meeting;
  3. Communication must be two-way, i.e. the shareholders must fully exercise their rights and be able to debate agenda items. There is an exception to that, allowing shareholders only to listen, but without participating such exception, allowing one-way communication is valid only until 30 June 2021.

By Kariem Abdellatif, Head of Mercator by Citco, Robert-Jane Kokshoorn, Head of Business Development, Mercator by Citco, and Chris Butler, Head of Operations, Mercator by Citco

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