OVERVIEW OF LEGAL BASES

SRD II & ARUG II - What are the legal bases for the DPAii?

On 17 May 2017, the EU adopted the Shareholder Rights Directive (SRD II). The SRD II supplements and fundamentally revises the existing EU 2007/36/EC Directive. The SRD II grants listed companies (issuers) domiciled in the European Economic Area the right to identify their shareholders. The regulations on identifying shareholders and facilitating the exercising shareholder's rights were implemented in Germany through the Act Implementing the Second Shareholders' Rights Directive (ARUG II).

On this page choose between further content on the SRD II or ARUG II and learn more about their legal bases.

SRD II

SRD II grants issuers domiciled in the European Economic Area the right to identify their shareholders. Intermediaries are obliged to facilitate the identification of shareholders by the issuer. In addition to more effective information for shareholders concerning corporate events, the focus in particular is on making it easier to exercise shareholders' rights, even in cross-border structures.

ARUG II

Pursuant to ARUG II, issuers domiciled in the European Economic Area have been authorised from 3 September 2020 to request information about their shareholders from intermediaries. Furthermore, in addition to publishing the convening notice for the general shareholders’ meeting in the Federal Gazette as the publication medium for company announcements pursuant to Sec. 121 (4) German Stock Corporations Act ("AktG"), it has been a further requirement to mail out a convening notice for the general shareholders’ meeting pursuant to Sec. 125 AktG along the entire chain of intermediaries.