It is well-known that, in the field of representation of mercantile companies, the general powers are obligated to be inscribed in a sheet that is open to every company in the Mercantile Registry and that, when it comes to special powers, their inscription is optional (ex art. 94.1. 5 of ... Read More »
Category Archives: Corporate law
Feed Subscription<Right of the works council to be consulted applies in principle during liquidation
June 14, 2017
The right of the works council to be consulted does in principle apply in the situation where a company has been declared insolvent. In the event of a continuation or restart of a company, the liquidator shall in principle have to give the works council the opportunity to express itself ... Read More »
Following long debates: the government enacts the law promoting transparency in remuneration structures
May 9, 2017
Following the introduction of the statutory minimum wage (01/01/2015), the additional parental benefits (01/01/2015) and the gender balance for management positions (01/01/2016), which also serve to reduce the differences in remuneration between women and men, it is now the intention that an act promoting transparency in remuneration structures (EntgTranspG) will ... Read More »
Methods of industrial action in Germany
May 2, 2017
To what methods of industrial action do employers and employees actually have access under German law, and what developments are currently relevant in Germany in this context? It should be noted that there have been an increasing number of strikes in Germany in recent years. Added to this is the ... Read More »
Which court has jurisdiction in case of termination of an orally agreed distributor agreement?
April 13, 2017
A French party has been distributing Italian foodstuffs in France for an Italian supplier for more than 25 years. The parties never documented their agreements in a (written) distributor agreement, nor did they ever agree on exclusivity (agreement that the distributor may exclusively sell the supplier’s products in a specific ... Read More »
The minimum mandatory dividend: article 348 bis of the Spanish Corporate Enterprises Act
April 7, 2017
Article 348 bis of the Corporate Enterprises Act entered once again into force on January 1st, 2017. Its reactivation implies the possibility for companies’ shareholders to request the distribution of, at least, one third of the legally distributable profits arising from the company’s main business activities and, if this distribution ... Read More »
Reliance on third parties: how, what, when?
April 3, 2017
Ever since the Siemens and Holst Italia judgements it has been a procurement law certainty that tenderers can rely on third parties for eligibility requirements for example. And although after the high-profile ruling of the Court in Interlocutory Proceedings in Arnhem in 2009, we thought that the doctrine was fully ... Read More »
Award criteria: best price-quality ratio versus lowest price
March 30, 2017
The award criteria determine to which tenderer the contract will be awarded in a particular tendering procedure. Price is often an important sub-criterion for award in practice, but award based on the lowest price is not permitted in principle. What is actually the situation with award based on best price-quality ... Read More »
Bearer shares at the NV a thing of the past?
March 28, 2017
The Netherlands has two types of capital companies: the NV (public limited company) and the BV (private limited company). One major difference between the two company forms has to with the shares. The introduction of the flex BV (Flex Private Limited Company) has diminished the differences in this area. The ... Read More »
Is it possible to ratify unauthorised representation?
March 7, 2017
Title 3 of book 3 of the Dutch Civil Code (‘BW’) contains provisions relating to the power of attorney. Article 3:69 BW determines that when someone has acted as the unauthorised representative of another, the latter can ratify this legal act, which means that the same result is realised as ... Read More »
A banned substance in animal feed can be reason to impose an administrative fine
March 3, 2017
If the inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) discover a banned substance in animal feed, the State Secretary of Economic Affairs, Netherlands Enterprise Authority (RVO) can impose an administrative fine on the basis of the Animals Act (Wet dieren). On the basis of sections 2.17 ... Read More »
New Corporate Governance Code – the most important changes
February 28, 2017
On 8 December 2016, the Corporate Governance Code Monitoring Committee (the ‘Committee’), published the revised Corporate Governance Code (the ‘Code’). The most important changes relate to the focus on long-term value creation and the introduction of culture as an element of good corporate governance. The Code has also been simplified ... Read More »
District Court Rotterdam confirms the ACM’s doctrine of imputability with investment funds
February 24, 2017
In his contribution to our knowledge pages, my colleague Sjaak van de Heul previously informed us that the ACM (Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets) had fined [ii] investment funds (investment firms or private equity) for breaches of the cartel prohibition by companies (flour producers) that were (indirectly) held by ... Read More »
Moving towards the Netherlands Commercial Court
February 23, 2017
A next important step towards creating the Netherlands Commercial Court has been taken: on 16 December 2016, the Netherlands Commercial Court legislative proposal (with accompanying explanatory memorandum) was published as a consultation document. The term to respond, 1 February 2017, has now expired. It looks like we are progressing towards ... Read More »
The implied duty of good faith in commercial contracts and its impact on deferred consideration clauses in corporate sale and purchase agreements
February 9, 2017
Jurisdictions around the world (including in the United States, France, Germany and Holland) generally recognise, to some extent, the principle that contracting parties owe each other a duty of good faith in the performance of their contractual obligations. This piece will look at the differing approaches taken in several jurisdictions ... Read More »