Government measures in key jurisdictions 3rd edition final - Flipbook - Page 125
Sweden
Tax
Has any new
legislation been
introduced in light of
Covid-19?
Company
law matters
Have any measures
been put in place to
accommodate social
distancing
(such as remote
general meetings)?
The Swedish Parliament has adopted a temporary law that allows Swedish companies to conduct general
meetings with remote participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measures included in the
temporary law permit companies to collect proxy forms in respect of general meetings and enables
companies to allow shareholders to vote by post at general meetings even if such option is originally not
included in the company’s articles of association, as well as to conduct general meetings electronically in
combination with postal voting, or solely by postal voting. The temporary law is effective throughout 2020.
The Swedish Corporate Governance Board (Sw. Kollegiet för Svensk Bolagsstyrning) has decided that
companies do not have to apply section 1.1 - 1.3 of the Swedish Corporate Governance Code (the “Code”)
throughout 2020. The Code, which applies to publicly listed companies, sets out norms for good corporate
governance and applies on a “comply-or-explain” basis. The aforementioned suspended rules contain
requirements regarding advance publication of the date of the general meeting, attendance of board
members and the CEO at the general meeting and presentation of proposals regarding election of the chair
at the general meeting. Consequently, publicly listed companies do not have to comply with these
requirements or explain any deviations from the aforementioned rules.
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