The following article is intended to outline the changes in relation to the general meeting of stock corporations under the revised Code of Obligations. The formal framework of the stock corporation remains unchanged, but the reform brings increased flexibility and administrative simplification in various areas, in particular by allowing the use of electronic means of communication. It will even be possible to hold a general meeting entirely by electronic means as a virtual general meeting. 

That this virtual concept works in practice has been confirmed in times of COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, the Swiss Federal Council has temporarily permitted virtual meetings based on a special legal basis, the COVID-19 Ordinance 2. However, although this test was successfully passed, virtual general meetings will under the new law – for practical reasons – presumably be reserved to small companies with only a few shareholders. For publicly listed companies with a large number of shareholders, the concept of physical general meetings will remain de facto the only method of holding a meeting of shareholders. 

One controversial issue arose in the final stage of the parliamentary debate of the reform relating to a practice of the independent proxy holders to inform the company or its Board of Directors in advance confidentially on the instructions received. The revised law presents a compromise in this respect.

By Peter Forstmoser / Thomas Hochstrasser (Reference: CapLaw-2020-53)