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Sanctions if articles of association are not adapted to the new Companies and Associations Code (“WVV”) in time.

On 1 July 2024, the register for working partners and assistants was introduced in the Belgian construction and cleaning sectors. As part of the broader fight against social security fraud, businesses in these sectors are required to list their working partners and assistants in this register using a specific application in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE). This will help ensure fair competition and the efficient collection of social security contributions. In addition, a further withholding obligation will be introduced in 2026.

On 21 June 2024, the Law amending social criminal law and introducing various employment law provisions was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. Most of the changes concern measures to combat illegal work and social security fraud. As well as amendments to the Social Criminal Code, provisions are also included on the organisation of the subcontracting chain and joint and several liability for payroll debts. As the latter provisions will not enter into force until 2025, we will discuss them at a later date. This article focuses on the main changes to the Social Criminal Code.

Belgian company law has followed the wider trend towards digitisation in recent years – albeit only gradually. Below we take a brief look at some examples of this and the benefits it can offer in practice.

Employers are now required to register all formal and informal training in a separate database, the Federal Learning Account (FLA).

Discover the significant changes in Belgian insolvency law following the implementation of the Law of 7 June 2023, which transposes the European Restructuring Directive. Key reforms include enhanced roles for the Chamber for Companies in Difficulty, updated extrajudicial amicable agreements, new private agreement procedures, and the introduction of silent bankruptcy. These changes aim to provide more options for entrepreneurs in difficulty, ensuring the continuity of economically viable businesses. Learn more about these developments and their impact on the Belgian insolvency landscape

In the course of 2023, the European Mobility Directive was transposed into Belgian law. As a result of this transposition, a number of new restructuring methods were introduced, including the simplified sister merger, the main features of which are explained below.

Until 1 January 2024, the erection of signboards in Flanders was still subject to rules dating from the 1930s and 1950s. As these rules were very outdated and not adapted to the various modern options, the Flemish Government definitively approved the Regional Publicity Regulation 2023 on 12 May 2023. This regulation has two substantive objectives: the promotion of good spatial planning and road safety. The regulation applies to all signboards put up from 1 January 2024 onwards. Existing signboards therefore remain subject to the old rules. What are the main changes under the new regulation? We will briefly go over them here.

Since 1 September 2023, stricter rules have applied to debt recovery, in order to protect consumers against unreasonably high interest rates and aggressive recovery practices. Companies with B2C activities therefore need to adapt their contractual conditions and recovery process to the new rules. We briefly list the changes.

The new regulations on the mandatory appointment of a confidant came into effect on 1 December 2023 .

A law was recently approved modifying the rules relating to the federal target group reduction for first recruitments from 2024. A target group reduction is a reduction in employer’s social security contributions. The restriction that has been introduced has two components.

As a result of digitisation, documents and contracts are increasingly being signed electronically. But what exactly is the legal status of these electronic signatures? Do they have the same value as the conventional pen-and-paper signature? In this contribution we take a look at the different types of electronic signature and their status in legal transactions.

During the health crisis in 2021 and 2022, the principle of recovery hours was introduced. The social partners have now reintroduced recovery hours for the period from July 2023 to June 2025. Below we briefly explain what these recovery hours entail.

The need for a bank account is obvious for most businesses. However, the proliferation of regulations to combat money laundering and fraud is leading to financial institutions being more cautious, requesting more information and ultimately often refusing to provide basic banking services.

When the Companies and Associations Code (CAC) was introduced, attempts were made to restrict the consequences as regards corporate tax as much as possible. This ‘tax neutrality’ has in general been achieved.

The new Companies and Associations Code (CAC) expressly states that directors cannot be bound by an employment contract with the company in that capacity. However, this does not mean that a director may never enter into an employment contract with the company at which he or she is a director.