On November 23, during the sitting of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the draft law on “Making Amendments and Additions to the Law on Joint-Stock Companies of RA” has been approved.

The necessity of adopting the law is conditioned by the necessity of introducing more up-to-date corporate governance principles in joint-stock companies, focusing particularly on issues related to the transparency of the corporate governance process.

The draft suggests three amendments, in particular:

1. Affiliated persons of the Company are obliged to provide information to the executive body of the company or other body, as defined by the charter before the conclusion of the transaction, more detailed information on interconnection.

2. The registry of board members should also include information on the rights and responsibilities of a member of the board of directors on position in another company, which will provide a wider opportunity to disclose the company's interest in transactions.

3. Forbid the combination of positions of board chairman and director (director general) in open joint-stock companies (with 50 and more shareholders); The regulation will allow the OJSCs to effectively use the clash of interests arising from the peculiarities of these positions.

As a result of these changes, due to the expected increase in the transparency of the corporate governance process, the improvement of Armenia's position through the "Protection of Small Investors" in the World Bank's “Doing Business” report is possible.