Joint-stock companies should take into account restrictions set by the Government when planning a general meeting of shareholders

The National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) recommends that joint stock companies planning to hold a general quarantine quarantine due to the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) should take into account the restrictions imposed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

We pay attention to joint-stock companies that have more than 10 meeting attendees, taking into account the chairman, the secretary and other working bodies of the meeting, that holding them will violate the sanitary rules and regulations established for the period of quarantine.

The NSSMC, in cooperation with other state bodies and deputies from the profile Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, is currently working on a complex of anti-crisis measures, which is scheduled to be considered by the Verkhovna Rada in the framework of an extraordinary session. The Commission proposed to amend the legislation on the activities of joint stock companies and to allow it to determine for the year 2020 temporary special requirements for convening and holding a general meeting of shareholders, in particular:

• Possibility to hold a general shareholders meeting in 2020 remotely.
• The statutory annual general shareholders meeting will not be applied in 2020. The meeting will be open until December 31, 2020.
• The deadlines for the publication of annual reports by securities issuers will not be applied in 2020. The Annual Report can be discloused within 5 business days of the general meeting of shareholders.
• If the term of the members of the supervisory boards of joint-stock companies expires in 2020, the powers of such members of the supervisory boards will be fully extended until the date of the general meeting of shareholders.

Follow the events. The Commission will inform in case of additional information.

During this period, we recommend that you consume information responsibly and exclusively from official sources – the websites of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Recall that the Government of March 17, 2020 introduced a number of measures to prevent the spread in Ukraine of acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which in particular concern restrictions on holding mass events involving more than 10 people. On March 17, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved amendments to a number of laws establishing the increased liability of individuals and legal entities for violations of sanitary standards during the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

* The procedure for holding a general meeting of shareholders involves the participation of five additional persons – the chairman of the meeting, the secretary of the meeting and the counting committee, usually consisting of three persons.