THE LEGAL NATURE OF THE SHAREHOLDERS’ RIGHT TO INFORMATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25234/pv/30792Abstract
The shareholders’ right to information enables shareholders to ask questions and seek information about the company’s affairs from the management, ensuring active shareholder participation and informed decision-making. This paper aims to examine its legal nature on both theoretical and practical levels. Methodological treatment includes, on the one hand, an analysis of legal sources and case law, and on the other hand, an analysis of the regulatory approach of EU member states’ legislators in regulating this institute, aiming to understand the legal nature of the right to information to better discern when shareholders will be most fully protected. The purpose of the paper is to provide a more precise determination of the legal nature, which can assist in qualifying the rights and obligations arising from this institute. In this regard, the following key questions have been identified. First, whether this right is regulated uniformly for all joint-stock companies at the level of EU member states or if the legislator has made a regulatory distinction regarding listed and unlisted companies. Second, whether the right to information is considered a right guaranteed to each shareholder in the national laws of EU member states, or if it is a collective right. Finally, whether it is an independent right in the catalogue of membership rights or if it is ancillary (instrumental) to the shareholder’s membership rights.
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