Rights and obligations of shareholders

A joint stock company is a typical example of a capital company whose principal element is a shareholder on whom rests the existence of a joint stock company. The shareholders enter the company as investors who want to increase the value of their investments. The management of the company has the competence of a professional management, which seeks to increase the particular investment and to strengthen the company's position in the market. However, there may be situations when the management of the company pursues different interests than the interests of the shareholders. Due to this reason it is necessary to clearly define the relationship among the shareholders as well as between the shareholders and the company. Legal status of the shareholders is defined as a set of rights and duties. A shareholder has partial rights that enable him to participate in the running of the company, including the right to attend the general meeting and to vote at it. Furthermore, the shareholder has the right to participate in profit distribution and to participate in distribution of the liquidation balance. The Business Corporation Act also grants special rights to the minority shareholders, i.e. qualified shareholders, which serve to protect them. A qualified shareholder has primarily the right to request the..