Newsletter
SHAREHOLDERS AND CREDITORS MAY ENGAGE OTHERS TO REVIEW COMPANY RECORDS
The Company Act provides that the board of directors of a company should keep the company's articles of incorporation, minutes of shareholders' meetings, and financial statements at the company's head office, and should keep the shareholders roster and the counterfoils of issued corporate bonds, at the head office or at the premises of its stock agent. Shareholders and creditors of the company may at any time make a request to review or transcribe these records, on presenting documentary evidence of their personal interest and indicating the scope of the records concerned.
In an interpretation dated 5 May 2003, the Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that shareholders and creditors must review or transcribe such records in person, and may not engage other persons to do so on their behalf. In consideration of practical needs, the MOEA has now relaxed this position: in an interpretation dated 30 March 2007 the MOEA stated that when requesting permission to review or transcribe such company records, shareholders and creditors may appoint another person to act on their behalf, by issuing a power of attorney.