Parliament accepts bill on company extraordinary general meetings
A meeting of the economic committee is scheduled to be held at 11:30 pm on Monday.
Parliament on Monday accepted for review and forwarded to a committee amendments to the Companies Act to shorten the notice period for holding general meetings of companies and the existing period for appointment of members to the board of companies.
The Companies Act amendment bill, moved by Feydhoo North MP Ismail Nizar, was accepted with the votes of 77 MPs in Monday's extraordinary sitting. No members voted against it.
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla said the bill would be referred to the economic committee for consideration.
A meeting of the economic committee is scheduled to be held at 11:30 pm on Monday.
The purpose of the bill is to make changes to the procedures required to hold an extraordinary general meeting of a company under the law.
Except for companies with only one member as provided by law, the board of directors of the company shall make arrangements for the holding of an extraordinary general meeting of each company in two cases. These include:
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In the case of a private company, the request of not less than 10% of the voting members at a general meeting.
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If it is a public company, at least 10% of the members entitled to vote at a general meeting should request it.
The main amendment in the 10-page bill is to allow extraordinary general meetings to be held on short notice instead of the current deadlines. They include:
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As the law currently stands, the board of directors must convene the meeting within 21 days of receipt of the request and the meeting should be held within 3 months of receipt of the request.
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The amendment proposes that the board of directors should convene the meeting within three days of receipt of the request and the meeting should be held within 10 days of receipt of the request.
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The law currently requires that if it is a private company, it must send notice at least two weeks before the scheduled date of the extraordinary general meeting; Instead, the amendment shortened the period to seven days.
The next change in the law is to expedite the time for appointment of new managing directors and directors if there are not the required number of directors. They include:
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Currently, if the registrar is brought to the attention of the absence of directors or the absence of a managing director, they must be appointed within 30 days of the notification.
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The amendment shortens the period to 10 days.
Meanwhile, the speaker announced on Monday that an extraordinary sitting of the parliament will be held on Tuesday. The sitting is expected to approve the appointment of Abbas Shareef, Legal Secretary at the President's Office and former High Court judge, as the new Prosecutor General (PG).
An extraordinary session was also held on Tuesday night to start considering the name sent by President Mohamed Muizzu to appoint a person to the vacant PG post.
Parliament will resume sessions on October 1. Parliament went on leave in August.
