Overview of the Amendments of the Law That Entered into Force on 1 October

Changes in the Commercial Code

The first day of October saw the entry into force of the amendment of the Commercial Code, which allows omission of shares from the Estonian Central Register of Securities, i.e. returning the right to keep the list of shareholders to the management board. In order to pass such a decision, at least 2/3 of the votes of the shareholders participating in the meeting are required. Previously, it was possible to omit the shares from the register only in the event of dissolution of a private limited company with the completion of the liquidation or bankruptcy proceedings, or in the event of a dissolution of a private limited company by merger or division.

If previously the shares had to be registered with the Estonian Central Register of Securities, then from October, it is allowed to register the shares with another service provide. Changing of the keeper of the share register is allowed if at least 9/10 of the shareholders who participated in the meeting are in favour.

Amendments to the Aliens Act

From 1 October, the temporary residence permit for employment can be issued for up to five years and it may be extended by up to ten years at a time. Previously, the term of validity of the residence permit foreseen for employment was up to two years and it was possible to extend it by up to five years. From now on the temporary residence permit for entrepreneurship can also be extended by up to ten years instead of the previous five years.