Temporary Rules To Facilitate Virtual Board Meetings

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on business operations. French companies are having to adapt quickly to social distancing measures and travel restrictions and many are now dispensing with face-to-face board meetings in favour of virtual meetings or written procedures.

The French Parliament passed Emergency Law 2020-290 of 23 March 2020(1) to enable the French government to adopt measures by way of an ordinance to help businesses navigate these unprecedented times.

Thus, on 25 March 2020 Ordinance 2020-321(2) was adopted to relax the rules around virtual board and shareholder meetings. The ordinance applies from 12 March 2020 until 30 July 2020.

This article provides an overview of the general regime that applied to remotely held meetings and written decisions of the management organs of some of the most popular types of company, such as sociétés anonymes (SAs), sociétés par actions simplifiées (SASs) and sociétés à responsabilité limitée (SARLs),