Investigation into a company’s affairs

Abstract

Until 1971 a limited form of investigation into a company’s affairs was known in the form of an inquiry on the initiative of holders of at least one-fifth of the issued capital. This right of inquiry was restricted to NV’s only. (It was not applicable to other forms of undertakings and it will be recalled that, in any case, the BV did not exist at the time.) The legal requirements were not compulsory for the then existing small family-NV’s with a few registered shares. The effect of an inquiry could only be of a preventative nature, because no measures could be ordered by the Court, and a majority of shareholders in most cases still formed too large a block for the inquiring minority to bring about those changes, which the outcome of the investigation suggested to be necessary.