General Meeting In General

The shareholders of a company exercise the highest decision power at the general meeting of shareholders. Legal provisions on the annual general meeting and the extraordinary general meeting are included in the Limited Liability Companies Act.

The difference between these two is that the annual general meeting shall be held only once per financial period and it shall be held within six months of the end of the financial period and at least matters stipulated in the Limited Liability Companies Act and in the articles of association are to be dealt with there.

An extraordinary meeting may be held whenever necessary, for instance, amendments of the articles of association or a share issue may be resolved upon there. Every shareholder of the company has a right to be present at the general meeting. The shareholders participating in the decision making in the general meeting form the decision of the general meeting. Shareholders not participating in the meeting cannot normally influence on the decision.

Summoning the general meeting, organizing the meeting and participating in the meeting are strictly regulated in the Limited Liability Companies Act. Furthermore, divisions thereof can also be taken in the articles of association. The purpose of the regulation is to ensure according to the principle of equality that all shareholders have equal possibilities to participate and influence on the meeting.