To increase the transparency of the shareholding structure of joint-stock companies, as of 1 January 2014 registered bearer shares were transformed into registered shares. Shareholders holding bearer shares were obliged to submit these shares to their companies to be exchanged for registered shares and to provide the necessary information to the shareholders' list. Shareholders who have not complied with this obligation are restricted in the exercise of their shareholder rights, including the right to file a petition to declare a resolution of the general meeting invalid. This also applies when the company does not have a sufficiently or fully populated statutory body. According to the Supreme Court, shareholders will be restricted in the exercise of their shareholder rights until they have fulfilled their obligations to submit shares for exchange and to provide the company with the information in the list of shareholders.

(Supreme Court judgment of 21 June 2022, Case No. 27 Cdo 2805/2021)

Author: Jana Pospíšilová