Legal Regulation of Shareholder Rights in the CIS

Abstract

This chapter discusses how company law regulates some of the key rights of shareholders of joint-stock companies in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The regulation of shareholder rights has come to be widely seen as the area of primary importance in the development of corporate governance in the CIS. The granting of voting rights to shareholders has practical meaning only if the exercise of these rights is guaranteed through the regulation of the general meeting of shareholders (GMS). The right of a shareholder or a group of shareholders to call an extraordinary meeting (EMS) is a powerful tool for shareholder action. Only a limited number of CIS countries provide for the enforcement of directors' and managers' liability by shareholders. In Armenia, Russia, and Uzbekistan, this can be done by shareholders holding 1% of the ordinary shares of a company. Keywords: Armenia; Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); company law; joint-stock companies; Russia; shareholder rights; Uzbekistan; voting rights