Bylaws need to address the legal framework and governance trends for digital meetings. The tips and recommendations from the experts at PwC Legal.
A guest article by Tobias Mittrach and Jan Gerd Möller of PwC Legal
Until two years ago, the consensus was that Formal Meetings were held as face-to-face events. This had various cultural and legal reasons - among others, there was no clear legal basis for Formal Online Meetings (FOMs).
The Civil, Bankruptcy, and Criminal Procedure Mitigation Act ("Covid-19 Act") changed that. It created the legal basis for FOMs such as meetings and assemblies to operate even without separate statutory authority or rules of procedure. The special regulations were extended until August 31, 2022. This allowed companies and public authorities to gain sufficient experience with FOMs and learned to appreciate the advantages of digital formats.
In principle, committee work may continue to take place digitally even after the expiry of the COVID 19 Act. However, to be on the safe side legally, we recommend adapting the articles of incorporation accordingly. This is particularly important for committee work in supervisory boards, as special regulations apply here.