The European Union (Shareholders' Rights) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 81 of 2020) (the Shareholders' Rights Regulations) have been published and are due to come into effect on 30 March 2020.
The Shareholders' Rights Regulations will implement the Shareholder Rights Directive 2017/828 (SRD II) in Ireland. Member States were required to transpose SRD II into national law by 10 June 2019 so implementation here is overdue. SRD II amends the (original) Shareholder Rights Directive (2007/36/EC) and also amends and supplements a number of provisions contained in Part 17 of the Companies Act 2014 (relating to PLCs and Societas Europaea). The aim of SRD II is to seek to ensure increased transparency and accountability and to encourage long term shareholder engagement in traded / listed companies. The provisions of the Shareholders' Rights Regulations will be the subject of a separate alert shortly.