As a result of the pandemic, temporary provisions that made it possible for companies and associations to hold meetings digitally were introduced during 2020. The temporary provisions ceased to apply at the turn of 2022/2023 and since then the same opportunities to hold digital meetings have not been available.
An amendment to the law is now proposed that will enable companies and associations to hold entirely digital meetings from 1 January 2024. There has been substantial interest from the business world in the introduction of rules that enable digital meetings, and the neighbouring countries of Denmark, Norway and Finland already have rules making it possible to conduct entirely digital meetings.
According to current regulations, entirely digital meetings are only possible if all shareholders give their consent, which in reality has been an impossibility for companies with a large number of shareholders.
Companies with a large number of shareholders often hold so-called hybrid meetings (with both physical and digital participation) and/or apply various postal voting procedures. The proposed rules on entirely digital meetings are technology-neutral and will not regulate which technical solutions need to be instituted for it to be possible to execute the meeting digitally.
If the draft act enters into force, it will be possible for companies and associations to hold entirely digital meetings. However, a condition for this will be that the company's or the association's respective articles of association or statutes contain provisions that facilitate the procedure. It is possible to already prepare for the new rules by inserting such provisions in articles of association or statutes.
We are naturally monitoring developments at Lindahl, and are happy to answer questions concerning the new legislative proposal.
