Corporate Note | December 2014

The amendment of the Corporate Enterprises Act has entered into force by way of Law 31/2014, dated 3 December (Official State Gazette no. 293, 4 December), with the amendments made resulting from a process which began in 2013. The first milestone of said process was the report issued on 14 October of the same year by the Expert Committee appointed by the Government to cover corporate governance matters. The amendment is considered vastly important given that, despite focussing on the regulation of the general meeting and the company directors, its provisions have been expanded by a large number of principles affecting the two basic types of companies (public and private limited companies). Moreover, significant changes have been made with regards to listed companies. The range of amendments brought in advises a thorough and prolonged analysis which shall be the subject of a more extensive and complete future document. Nevertheless, given its importance, we believe that a first approach which highlights some of its most important aspects (without being too exhaustive) would be useful once the amendments enter into force. We must point out that, in any case, a transition period is anticipated which will delay the entry into force of some of the amendments to 1 January 2015. Moreover, in some cases, their effectiveness is dependent on the first general meeting to be held after said date.