The bill to amend the legislation on joint stock companies includes corruptible provisions. Furthermore, it wasn’t subject to decisional transparency. The Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Corruption (CAPC) assessed the bill and recommended the author – MP Veaceslav Ionita – to provide more arguments as regards the necessity of adopting this initiative.

In a news conference at IPN, expert Oleg Utsica said the legislative initiative is welcome as it aims to adjust the legislation to the Law on the Capital Market. But the document contains not very well regulated aspects and allows the procedures to overlap.

According to the expert, the bill wasn’t discussed with civil society and wasn’t appraised by the relevant ministries and by the Government, but this should have been done within one month of the registration of the initiative.

Oleg Utsica stated the provisions concerning the physical presence of shareholders must be reviewed as only Moldova has such provisions. Some of the companies have shareholders abroad and it would be impossible to summon them immediately. Online conferences of shareholders should be allowed.

The expert also said that the bill includes regulations promoting group interests. It allows larger joint stock companies to fully or partially take over smaller joint sock companies.

CAPC head Galina Bostan said the bill is important because it regulates the behavior of the business community. However, such bills necessitate detailed argumentation as concerns the social and economic effects. The author is urged to revise the informative note to the bill.

The CAPC appraisal was carried out within the Vulnerability Expertise of the Draft Normative and Legal Acts Project that is supported financially by Matra Rule of Law and Good Governance of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.