Essential adaptations of corporate law

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uring their lifetime, companies are likely to be confronted with economic, social, political or health crises. Contexts that test their resilience and their ability to adapt to changes in their environment. Corporate law provides a legal framework that allows companies to face any form of crisis in order to take advantage of new opportunities that arise.
Adaptations to corporate law are essential when companies have to deal with an economic crisis or major changes in the business landscape. For example, during brazil phone data the 2008 financial crisis, corporate law adapted by allowing companies to resort to mergers or acquisitions more flexibly. These procedures allowed companies to sustain their activities and face operational and financial difficulties. It was then thanks to the Economic Modernization Act (LME) that the administrative procedures related to mergers and acquisitions actions were more accessible, by reducing, among other things, the deadlines for publishing transactions.

The same is true during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health restrictions have prompted companies to rectify their statutes or operating methods. Corporate law has adapted to this new context by publishing, among many texts, Ordinance No. 2020-321 of March 25, 2020, which relaxes the rules for participation in general meetings of companies by authorizing them to be held remotely.

It is therefore essential that corporate law adjusts decrees and ordinances according to the context in order to enable companies to cope with crisis situations. This is a real question of survival, but also of maintaining the economic and social stability of organizations.

Force majeure in companies
Article 1218 of the Civil Code defines force majeure as follows: "There is force majeure in contractual matters when an event beyond the control of the debtor, which could not reasonably have been foreseen when the contract was concluded and whose effects cannot be avoided by appropriate measures, prevents the debtor from fulfilling its obligation." In order to help companies deal with crisis situations, corporate law sets up specific measures. For example, Article R225-61 of the French Commercial Code provides for the possibility for public limited companies (SAs) to hold general meetings by videoconference in the event of force majeure. Furthermore, in order to meet requirements related to an exceptional context, companies have the possibility of extending the filing of their annual accounts with the regional directorate for the economy, employment, labor and solidarity, according to Article R123-96 of the French Commercial Code.

In corporate law, in the event of force majeure, the remuneration of executives can be adjusted