Search for:
Corporate Compliance

South Africa: Summary and analysis of certain proposed amendments to the Companies Act

By 1 Min Read

In brief

On 28 August 2023, the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Competition published proposed amendments (the Companies Amendment Bill and Companies Second Amendment Bill) to the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008. We have set out a summary of certain of these amendments, which, in our view, are noteworthy, as well as our views on these amendments.

On 18 October 2023, we made submissions to the South African Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry, and Competition in respect of those amendments that concerned us. While we are yet to receive written feedback from the Portfolio Committee, we are hopeful that the views expressed by ourselves and other market participants with a vested interest in these amendments will guide the Portfolio Committee in their final formulation of these proposed amendments to the Act.

Note: Jordan Moonsamy, Candidate Attorney in Johannesburg, also contributed to this insight.

View our summary here.

Categories:
Author

Lydia Shadrach-Razzino is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Corporate M&A Practice Group in Johannesburg. Lydia is continuously recognised for her legal proficiency and was most recently included in the Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2024: M&A | Africa - a meticulously researched guide that showcases Africa’s very best. She was a shortlisted finalist for Dealmaker of the Year in 2020 and again in 2021 and received the award in 2021, making her the first woman in the history of the award to have won. In 2022, Lydia was also awarded the Client Choice M&A Lawyer of the Year Award. In 2014, she was awarded the ABSIP Corporate Finance Lawyer of the Year award. She is also recognised by Chambers (for M&A and Private Equity), Legal 500 and Best Lawyers, and is featured in Who's Who Legal. Lydia has advised on several award-winning transactions including Vodacom on its acquisition of an interest in Vodafone Egypt, which was awarded Deal of the Year at the DealMakers Gala Awards in 2021. She advised Ascendis on its disposal of its Animal Health business to Acorn Private Equity, which was awarded Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year at the DealMakers Gala Awards in 2021.

Author

Ashlin Perumall is a partner in Baker McKenzie's corporate/M&A and IPTech practice groups in Johannesburg. Ashlin specialises in technology-focused matters, including M&A and venture capital transactions, and the commercial aspects of intellectual property (IP). His practice extends to advising on emerging technology business models and establishing legal, compliance or diligence assessment frameworks for novel targets in various industries, where a high degree of technical expertise is required. These include acting as key advisor to clients entering the fintech (including paytech, open banking, digital banking and financial APIs), blockchain and distributed ledger tech, AI/Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS) in the auditing industry and digital asset sector. He has over a decade of experience is assessing emerging technology and novel IP acquisition targets. Ashlin has also worked in the Firm's London office and served as a Fellow to the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in San Francisco as part of our partnership with the forum to address global, regional and industry policy issues in respect of 4IR technologies, conducting regulatory and policy research, and paper writing as part of the Digital Currency Governance Consortium (DCGC).

Author

Kaylea Sher-Fisher is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Corporate M&A Practice Group in Johannesburg. She specialises in mergers and acquisitions, general commercial law, and private equity transactions.

Related Posts