All directors are required to always act in the best interests of the company, and this can only be achieved if directors set aside their personal interests. In order to ensure that no one individual, or group of individuals yield unfettered power on the Board, King IV proposes the appointment of independent non-executive directors. King IV defines independence as “the [...]
On 15 March, due to the Covid - 19 pandemic, the state issued an order which prohibits the holding of public meetings. These clear measures were introduced to combat the spread of Covid – 19 and are expected to influence the chosen format of annual general meetings (“AGMs”) for a long time. Against this background of the Covid - 19 [...]
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented business disruption. It has forced companies to respond to new and ever-changing risks and challenges, from employees' health and safety to site closures. During these trying times, appropriate corporate governance is more important than ever. King IV is a voluntary set of principles and leading practices that guides corporate governance toward ethical and effective [...]
“The SA Companies Act has been in existence since 1973 and it is outdated. It contains little on corporate governance, transparency, accountability, modern merger methods and minority shareholder protection.”1 It further contains nothing that adequately provides for or encourages private corporate and empowerment groups to conclude Black Economic Empowerment (“BEE”) transactions. South African company law is on the move towards [...]
As it stands there are no regulatory measures in place regarding the levy and collection of tax on digital service imported from foreign companies who are not resident in South Africa. This article serves to discuss the newly proposed regulations which aim to bring digital services, obtained from foreign companies for South African consumers, fully within the ambit of the [...]
The newly formed Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), established “with the aim of promoting growth, employment, innovation, stability, good governance, confidence and international competitiveness.” Further stated on the CIPC’s website, is that it “seeks to assert the commission as a credible independent and transparent regulator, on par with the rest of the world.” We have to use CIPC to [...]
Section 1(h) of the Corporate Laws Amendment Act, 24 of 2006 (the “Act”) inserts a new subsection 6 into the Companies Act, 61 of 1973 (the “Companies Act”) and provides that a company is a widely held company if: its articles provide for an unrestricted transfer of its shares; it is permitted by its articles to offer shares to the [...]
