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Shareholder and Creditor Protection in Company Groups under Polish Law

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References

  1. See, for instance, M. Lutter, “The Law of Groups of Companies in Europe: A Challenge for Jurisprudence”, Forum Internationale (1995) 11. “Company” is understood to mean a joint stock company or a limited liability company GmbH.

  2. See Art. 1 1 of E.U. Directive No. 83/349.

  3. Mestmäcker, Verwaltung, Konzerngewalt und Rechte der Aktionäre (Karlsruhe 1958) pp. 303 et seq. The foregoing characteristics of “group of companies” are quoted with approval by Lutter, note supra, p. 11.

  4. The Draft of the Code has been presented to the Parliament by the Government this year and met with positive comments by all political parties except for KPN Ojczyzna, a small right-wing party, which considers harmonization of Polish law with the EU legal standards as an act of high treason and abandonment of Polish legal traditions. It is worth mentioning that the current Polish Commercial Code of 1934 represents an example of slavish imitation of German company laws of the 1920s to a much larger degree than the current draft of the New Code of Commercial Companies. For more on the main sources of inspiration, and the main directions of the reform of Polish company law see Sołtsiński, “Reform of Polish Company Law”, Festschrift für W. Fikentscher (Tübingen 1998) pp. 419 et seq.

  5. For instance, the French Rozenblum precedent seems to strike the best balance between the conflicting objectives of the autonomy of each constituent company and the modern requirements of uniform management within the group. English concepts of “wrongful trading” and “shadow director” are also worth considering while modernizing Polish bankruptcy laws.

  6. Dz.U. No. 118, item 561 as amended.

  7. See A. Szumański, “Spółki z udziałem zagranicznym” [”Companies with foreign participation”] in: St. Włodyka (ed.), Prawo Spółek (Kraków 1996) pp. 573–589; this has been changed by the Act of 19 November 1999 on the law on business operations. The draft Commercial Company Code stipulates that limited liability companies and joint stock companies “with their registered seat abroad may establish branches on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The requirements for establishing such branches shall be set forth in a separate act.” Art. 155 and Art. 307 of the draft Commercial Company Code.

  8. Dz.U. No. 44, item 202, as amended in 1994, No. 84, item 385; 1994, No. 84, item 386; 1997 No. 30, item 164, and No. 47, item 298.

  9. M. Zdebel, Ustawa o narodowych funduszach inwestycyjnych i ich prywatyzacji, Komentarz [The act on the national investment funds and their privatization, a commentary] (Bielsko-Biała 1995) pp. 19–22.

  10. Art. 3531 of the Polish Civil Code.

  11. EU Directive 89/667/EEC OJ [1989] L 395/40-42 (30.12.89).

  12. Ruling of 28 April 1997, II CKN 133/97, Orzecznictwo Sądu Najwyiszego — Izby Cywilnej OSN CP [Case law of the Supreme Court — Ci vil Chamber] 1997 book 10, item 154; with an approving gloss by A. Szumański, Przegląd Sądowy (1998) no. 1, pp. 68–74, and a critical gloss by J. Frąckowiak, Orzecznictwo Sądów polskich [Case law of Polish courts] 1998, no. 4, p. 220–222.

  13. Dziennik Ustaw No. 57, item 502 of 1934, as amended.

  14. Members of the Polish two-tier boards are called “directors” throughout this paper.

  15. The existence of groups of companies has been recently recognized, inter alia, by tax and accounting laws. See section 3 of this paper for further detail.

  16. It is interesting to note that the Commercial Code provides for a derivative action against directors of the company, liquidators, promoters, and certified accountants: Art. 477.

  17. Szajkowski, in: Sohysiński/Szajkowski/Szwaja, Kodeks Handlowy, Komentarz, vol. 2,2nd ed. (Warsaw 1998) pp. 1258–1259.

  18. Art. 5 and Art. 415 et seq. of the Civil Code; Włodyka, Prawo Spółek (Kraków 1991 ) p. 149.

  19. Art. 474 of the Commercial Code.

  20. Compare: S. Sołtysiński, “Zgrupowanie Spółek, Zarys problematyki prawnej”, KwArtalnik Prawa Prywatnego (1993) No. 3, pp. 224–243; A. Szymański, “Regulacja prawna holdingu w polskim i europejskim prawie spółek zagadnienia pojêciowe”, Przegląd Prawa Handlowego (1996) No. 8, pp. 1–11.

  21. See further Forum Europaeum Corporate Group Law, “Corporate Group Law for Europe”, 1 European Business Organization Law Review (2000) 167, at pp. 167–185 (in German: Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht [1998] 674, at pp. 674–691).

  22. Hereinafter the New Code.

  23. Art. 15 New Code.

  24. Art. 365 § 2 New Code.

  25. Art. 366 § 1 New Code.

  26. Art. 428 New Code.

  27. Art. 356 §§ 2–3 and Art. 456 New Code.

  28. See comments in Section 3.1, infra.

  29. Compare the Act of 14 June 1996 on merging and grouping of certain banks in the form of joint-stock companies Dz.U. No. 90, item 406 as amended, in particular Art. 1–12 of this act. These provisions were incorporated without change into the Act of 29 July 1997 on Banking Law Dz.U. No. 140, item 939, Arts. 113–120 Chapter 9 — Groups and mergers of banks.

  30. Art. 113 sec. 1–3 Banking Law.

  31. Art. 113 sec. 4–6 Banking Law.

  32. Art. 113 point 7 Banking Law.

  33. Art. 117 sec. 1 Banking Law.

  34. Art. 115 sec. 1 Banking Law.

  35. Art. 115 sec. 2 Banking Law.

  36. Art. 114 sec. 3 Banking Law.

  37. Art. 119 sec. 2 Banking Law.

  38. Art. 116 Banking Law.

  39. Art. 117 sec. 3 Banking Law.

  40. Art. 147–148 Securities Law.

  41. Art. 151–153 Securities Law.

  42. Art. 154–158 Securities Law.

  43. Art. 147–148 Securities Law.

  44. The Law on Accounting uses the term “capital group”.

  45. Art. 55 Accountancy Law.

  46. Dziennik Ustaw No. 93, item 834, of 1934, as amended.

  47. Art. 6 and 428–429 New Code.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

    Stanisław Sołtysiński (Professor of Law)

  2. Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland

    Andrzej Szumański (Professor of Law)

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  1. Stanisław Sołtysiński
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  2. Andrzej Szumański
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Sołtysiński, S., Szumański, A. Shareholder and Creditor Protection in Company Groups under Polish Law. Eur Bus Org Law Rev 2, 245–261 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1566752900000434

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