The majority shareholder falls out of control
9 July 2014
The corporate law is based on the “majority principle”: the majority shareholder can control the decisions at the shareholders’ meeting. While the old Companies Act already contained certain exceptions to this principle the new Civil Code broadens the scope of the exceptions. The new Civil Code declares that if a shareholder is “personally interested” in a decision, it is not allowed to vote on the given question. Although the courts’ interpretation of this new provision is not yet known, a conservative interpretation could lead to a substantial weakening of the “majority principle”.