Can meetings be held by videoconference in the Family Business?

The holding of Meetings by videoconference has acquired great importance in Family Businesses since they allow communication and decision making in a remote and effective way in a changing Society and where there are already many members of the Family who are geographically dispersed all over the planet.

It is worth mentioning that Law 5/2021 of April 12 amended the Capital Companies Law which introduced, in its third article, a series of modifications regarding the general meetings to be held by telematic means, modifying article 182 of the Capital Companies Law and including a new article 182 bis, modifications that are in force since May 3, 2021.

It is important to highlight that with this amendment:

• a) The possibility of allowing telematic assistance was extended to all capital companies and,
• b) the possibility was established for the corporate bylaws to provide for the possibility of convening meetings to be held without the physical attendance of the shareholders or their representatives.

Key features of videoconference meetings

The conditions for holding meetings by videoconference or telematic means are as follows:

1. That it has been provided for in the Bylaws by means of a bylaw amendment.
2. The identity and legitimacy of the members and their representatives must be duly guaranteed and all attendees must be able to participate in the meeting by appropriate means of remote communication, such as audio or video, complemented by written messages, both to exercise in real time their rights to speak, information, proposal and vote, and to follow the interventions of the other attendees by the aforementioned means.
3. The notice of the call shall inform of the formalities and procedures to be followed for the registration and formation of the list of attendees and for the proper reflection in the minutes of the meeting. Attendance may in no case be conditional upon registration being made more than one hour before the start of the meeting. The link to connect to the meeting must be attached to the notice of the meeting.
4. The exclusively telematic meeting shall be deemed to be held at the registered office regardless of where the chairman of the meeting is located.

As can be seen, meetings by videoconference or telematic means within the family business are a valuable tool to improve communication, efficiency in decision making and management in general, since they allow:

• Remote access and participation.
• Flexibility and agility.
• Cost and time reduction.
• Easy inclusion of experts to address different topics.
• Promoting transparency and communication.
• Continuity and succession.

It is especially relevant for companies whose family members are geographically distributed around the world or with flexibility in meetings.

You can contact our Family Business lawyers here.

• More information about Family Business

Rafael Vallet – Grupo Empresa Familiar

Partner of the commercial area