JOHANNESBURG - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Specialist Committee on CompanyLaw will host the Company Law Seminar at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) in Sandton, Gauteng from 24-25 August 2017.
The purpose of the seminar is to deliberate on important developments and trends in company law both in South Africa and internationally under the theme Burning Issues in Company Law.
According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies the seminar will also focus on how the Companies Act of 2008 impacts on small businesses, mergers and acquisitions, as well as other cooperative governance issues. Shareholder primacy, comparative law and business rescue will also feature. The seminar will be attended by businesspeople lawpractitioners, government officials and other entities and organisations affected by the companies’ legislation.
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“We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Amended Companies Act and are in the process of amending it. Therefore, it is important for the department to engage on the Act so as to understand the sections that are posing a challenge to the practitioners as well as the economy at large in order to ensure that the proposed amendments to the Companies Act are in line with global trends,” says Davies.
He adds that feedback gathered from previous seminars has indicated that people are still battling with the implementation of certain aspects of the Act and that there is a need to engage with the public on the topical issues and related sections to flesh them out and give a proper context.
Minister Davies iterates the importance of the dti establishing entities such as the Companies Tribunal to adjudicate on company matters, Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) to implement and enforce Act, as well as register businesses, and the Specialist Company Law Committee (SCCL) to advise on legislation, as part of the implementation process of the Companies Act of 2008.
Speakers at the seminar will include Mr Nigel Boardman from England, Mr David Friedlander from Australia, Mrs Kofo Dosekun from Nigeria, two South African judges, Lebohang Modiba and Ashley Binns-Ward, and various South African academics and company law regulators in South Africa.