Related Party Transactions Under the New Belgian Company Law

The Belgian company code of 7 May 1999 has been replaced by a new law dated 23 April 2019, entering into force on the 1st of May 2019. The new law is entitled: “Code on companies, associations and divers provisions”. This law has been the subject of amendments implementing a European directive which have been adopted by the Parliament by Law 28 April 2020. The new law has modified the applicable legal regime on transactions by listed companies with other related companies, as defined in the International Accounting Standard 24. These transactions have to be submitted to a committee of independents directors, who may call upon the services of an independent auditors. Their report is submitted to the board for approval. There is no intervention of the general meeting. The perimeter of this regime has been described in very strict terms: all transactions of a value above 1% of the net assets have to be submitted to the committee’s scrutiny. The law provides for sanctions – nullity – for non-compliance or general liability of directors for violations of the law.