With the global economy on the upturn, attracting investment and encouraging commercial activity have become key priorities. Administrations around the world are launching a series of new initiatives to make it easier for companies to set up shop in their jurisdictions. Incorporation procedures are being streamlined, outmoded regulations updated and company regimes remodelled to reflect today’s commercial realities.
The Azerbaijan companies legislation is a prime candidate for overhaul: its provisions are scattered across a patchwork of laws enacted during the 1990s and are lamentably short on detail. Benjamin Paine of Ledingham Chalmers reports on recent legislative efforts to address these deficiencies by creating a coherent, codified framework for commercial activities. For example, recent Civil Code amendments have clarified key procedures for the incorporation and operation of joint stock companies and limited liability companies. Detailed rules have been set out on issues such as charter capital increases, the shareholders’ register and the activities of management bodies. The amended code also elaborates on proceedings at the general shareholders’ meetings of joint stock companies: the introduction of new quorum requirements means that one shareholder can no longer ‘hold the company to ransom’, while certain majorities are now required to pass different types of shareholders’ resolution. Unfortunately, the limited liability company regime has yet to be updated in this respect.
