Company Act in Belgium

What is the Company Act in Belgium

The Belgian Company Act regulates the process of incorporation for all types of companies available in this country and facilitates the relationships between the authorities and the legal entities, as well as supervising the legal activity of the businesses. The Company Act in Belgium mainly refers to the Company Code in Belgium and also some other texts of legislation such as the Corporate Governance Act or Financial Supervision Act.

What are the provisions of the Company Act in Belgium?

The Belgian Royal Decree 2008 or the Belgian EU Directive also refer to the Company Act. Belgium also applies the rules of the European Union in everything concerning the incorporation of companies, especially when it comes to foreign investments.

The Company act in Belgium regulates the procedure of establishing and running all types of companies. The structures acknowledged by the company act in Belgium are:

•  the public limited company (NV),
• the private limited company (BVBA),
• the partnership (VOF),
• the private limited partnership (Comm. V.),
• the association limited by shares (commanditairevennootschap op aandelen) 
• the cooperative society.

As far as the labor act in Belgium is concerned, legislation mentions that the employment contract is necessary only in certain situations in a written form. If it is a contract for an unlimited period, it does not have to be written. The labor law in Belgium regulates the rights and obligations of both employers and employees. The law concerns individual employees, as well as collective agreements between more employees and the employer.

Why work with a company formation consultant for starting your company in Belgium?

It is highly adviseable for a foreign investor to seek the help of a qualified lawyer or company formation specialist before starting his business in Belgium. This way he can receive valuable consultancy regarding every aspect of his new company, such as the most suitable type of company for his business objectives, current laws and regulations he must obey, information regarding taxation, employment, registration, required documentation.  

When first entering a foreign market investors are usually very preoccupied with actually running their business and setting everything in place: conducting a market reasearch analysis, finding a headquerter, hiring employees, buying various devices, equipments, furniture and supplies. Therefore the help of a company formation expert can be invaluable for agood head-start, saving the investor's time, money and a lot of energy. Feel free to contact us for any question you might have in regards to your new Belgian company.