The Electronic Participation in Corporate Bodies in Lithuania from a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many jurisdictions around the world embarked on a path towards the speedy digital transformation of their corporate governance regulations. Lithuania is one of the countries where electronic participation in the general meetings of shareholders was stipulated back in 2009. Based on the experience gained during the pandemic, this was substantially changed in November 2022. This development raises the question of whether these novelties will suffice, or whether the further enhancement of Lithuanian company law is required. Therefore, this article aims to study the regulation of electronic participation in corporate bodies in Lithuania in a comparative context and to suggest improvements. To achieve this goal, two EU jurisdictions were selected for comparative analysis: Estonia and Germany. In addition, two surveys were carried out among Lithuanian law firms: one in 2022 and the other in 2023. Our study shows that practitioners treat the new amendments as sufficient and effective, but some amendments regarding the identification and verification of shareholders would be welcomed.

Keywords

• digitalisation
• corporate governance
• virtual meetings
• electronic participation
• corporate bodies