corporate | In Principle

On 25 February 2021, the Polish Parliament adopted amendments to the Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act of 1 March 2018. They concern both obligated institutions and reporting of information on beneficial owners to the Central Register of Beneficial Owners. Below we present some of the changes that will have a significant impact on the performance of duties by obligated institutions and entities required to make notifications to the register.

To prove that a power of attorney on behalf of a foreign entity was granted by persons authorised to represent the entity, an excerpt from the commercial register or a notary’s certificate is usually submitted. But what about countries where there are no commercial registries and notaries have no power to confirm representation?

Work is in progress on a bill amending the Accounting Act and other acts to make it easier to sign financial statements. This is good news for companies with multiple-member management boards.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Poland adopted an important resolution specifying the rules for running of the statute of limitations after a postponement of payment (creditor’s extension of the payment deadline). Under the resolution, if payment is postponed, the statute of limitations begins to run again from the new payment deadline. Thus, the view expressed by the Supreme Court allows the repayment of the debt to be divided into instalments along with postponement of the due date, and thus postponement of the beginning of the limitation period.

Apart from the basic form of running a business, which is a sole proprietorship, foreigners can choose to start a business in the form of a partnership or company. Each of these groups includes different types of corporate forms, and their activities depend on various factors.

It is looking increasingly likely that an agreement governing relations between the UK and the EU after 31 December 2020 will not be reached in time. This could cause some legal turbulence.

Among many problems facing businesses now is efficient management and decision-making when members of the company’s governing bodies cannot appear in person at headquarters for various reasons. Technology ensures efficient communications, but the possibility for corporate bodies to take resolutions remotely has been debatable in some situations.

Does a company or limited partnership have to have its own website? Does it have to operate the site itself? What information must be posted there? Practical pointers under the amended Commercial Companies Code

A competition compliance programme should protect an undertaking against commission of violations prosecuted by the competition authority. This applies to anticompetitive arrangements between competitors, or between suppliers and distributors, as well as abuse of a dominant position. Such infringements are threatened by punishment of up to 10% of an undertaking’s annual turnover.

Activity of law enforcement authorities concerning irregularities of a criminal nature can result in heavy losses to a company’s finances and image. Certain investigative and procedural measures (such as a search of corporate premises, seizing items or detaining people) can have a negative impact on the company’s business and reputation. The consequences can be even more serious if these measures lead to filing of allegations, indictment and conviction of high-ranking company officials. This is yet another argument for maintaining an effective compliance programme.

In the current legal system, the regulations on types of companies, their bodies and manner of functioning, liability for the company’s obligations, and protection of creditors, derive in basically unaltered form from the Commercial Code of 1934. The 1990s saw the introduction of modern regulation of the capital market in Poland. The following decades led to adoption of the Commercial Companies Code, gradual harmonisation of corporate law with EU law, and introduction of regulations allowing the use of digital technology in the establishment of limited-liability companies and certain aspects of their functioning.

With the New Year, an amendment to the Polish Commercial Companies Code will enter into force requiring every joint-stock company or joint-stock limited partnership to maintain its own website for communicating with shareholders. The new obligation is motivated by the process of digitalisation of joint-stock companies, but is also designed to increase protection of shareholders’ rights.