Council Approves Transparency Directive Amendments

Strategic buyers dominated Dutch public M&A in 2025, but ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and transformative forces like AI and the energy transition are reshaping the dealmaking landscape. Will strategic M&A continue to take center stage in 2026, or will private equity sponsors return with selective activity where they can bring genuine added value to target businesses?

Hans Urlus, Maquina Lamé and Rabia Simsek authored this Practice Note that explains the requirements for Dutch entities and trusts to register and maintain information on their Ultimate Beneficial Owners...

Given the scrutiny on executive compensation in recent years, it is critical to make sure that your company's executive pay reflects its performance and aligns with the market.

A competitive game-changer that accelerates our drive for global leadership in tech-enabled corporate and fund solutions

On March 18, 2026, the European Commission (EC) published its Proposal for a Regulation establishing a new corporate legal framework - "EU Inc.", which introduces a harmonized...

Following our earlier newsflash on the European Commission indicating that it might withdraw the Green Claims Directive, recent developments show that the proposal is still formally in place.

Dutch listed companies commonly deploy protective foundations as a defensive mechanism against hostile takeovers, granting independent boards the power to rapidly dilute bidder voting control through preference share issuance. This governance tool has gained widespread adoption among Dutch corporations and increasingly appears in international structures, offering companies crucial time to evaluate alternatives while maintaining strategic autonomy.

Omnicom Group has entered in agreement with Publicis to merge into a new Dutch holding company.

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has entered into effect on 25 July 2024.

The Netherlands is set to revolutionize corporate governance with the Digital General Meeting Act, allowing companies and associations to conduct fully virtual shareholder meetings starting January 2027. What changes must organizations make to their articles of association, and how will the transitional provisions for hybrid meetings affect current practices?

In June 2014, Transparency International published new guidance on countering small bribes, including "facilitation payments".

This month, a combined settlement was reached with one of China's biggest manufacturers of telecom equipment, Zhongxing Telecommunications Ltd. (ZTE).

A critical deadline looms for European issuers with securities traded outside the EU, as a key grandfathering clause under the CSD Regulation expires on 17 January 2027. Without timely regulatory action, third-country central securities depositories like DTC may be forced to suspend services to affected EU issuers, potentially disrupting trading in their equity and debt instruments on international markets.

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives are now critical drivers for companies – there is no getting around it.

Yahoo suffered three significant data breaches affecting more than 1.7 billion users between 2012 and 2014.

Enforcement actions by criminal and supervisory authorities are settled regularly.

RBS and Weatherford have reached major settlements with US authorities to resolve alleged violations of US sanctions and anti-bribery laws.

A critical deadline looms for European issuers with securities traded outside the EU, as a key grandfathering clause under the CSD Regulation expires on 17 January 2027. Without timely regulatory action, third-country central securities depositories like DTC may be forced to suspend services to affected EU issuers, potentially disrupting trading in their equity and debt instruments on international markets.

The Netherlands is poised to grant its competition authority unprecedented power to scrutinize mergers that fall below traditional notification thresholds, targeting potentially harmful transactions such as roll-up strategies and killer acquisitions. While the Dutch House of Representatives has approved the bill despite criticism from the Council of State, the legislation introduces an asymmetric threshold system and raises standard notification requirements, fundamentally reshaping the country's merger con

The European Court of Justice has handed down its eagerly awaited decision in ACI Adam v Stichting De Thuiskopie.