Chapter 2 - Concepts of 'Seat' and 'Seat Transfer'

Abstract

Chapter 2 deals with the concept of the company seat and seat transfers. It explains that the seat determines which specific national (company) law will be applicable to a company and that there are two different kinds of seats in the EU which can serve as the connecting factor to the applicable (company) law. The first connecting factor is the registered office and the second is the central administration. The chapter further looks at how the concept of a ‘seat’ is used in the European Union and illustrates this through the example of Dutch law in order to form an idea of how this is specifically regulated in national law. Thereafter, an analysis is made of how a company’s ‘seat’ can be transferred from one EU Member State to another, and what problems arise in this context.