Implementation and scope

The Second Company Law Directive was implemented into Belgian law by the Act of 5 December 1984. The amendments to the Directive introduced by Directive 92/101/EEC of 23 November 1992 were implemented by the Act of 13 April 1995, while those introduced by Directive 2006/68/EC of 6 September 2006 were implemented by means of the Royal Decree of 8 October 2008.

The scope of the Second Company Law Directive is limited to public limited liability companies (see no 1 of Chapter 1). According to the Directive, the société anonyme/naamloze vennootschap (“SA/NV”) is the public limited liability company under Belgian law to which the Directive applies. The Belgian legislature has extended the rules of the Directive to cover the société en commandite par actions/commanditaire vennootschap op aandelen (“SCA/Comm. VA”) and the société privée à responsabilité limitée/besloten vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid (“SPRL/BVBA”); certain rules have also been extended to the société cooperative à responsabilité limitée/coöperatieve vennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid (“SCRL/CVBA”).