Rights and Obligations of Shareholders - National Regimes and Proposed Instruments at EU Level for Improving Legal Efficiency

Shareholders are both partners with voting rights, who can take part in collective decisions concerning the company, and owners of equity securities, who are entitled to profit from selling them on. In view of this dual aspect, it seemed that legal efficiency in terms of their rights and obligations could be improved by (i) recognising the primacy of corporate benefit and (ii) making concerted action possible.