{"id":185,"date":"2019-06-03T13:34:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T12:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/?p=185"},"modified":"2026-07-13T10:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T09:45:05","slug":"conversion-of-an-abolished-legal-form-when-and-with-or-without-application-of-the-conversion-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/conversion-of-an-abolished-legal-form-when-and-with-or-without-application-of-the-conversion-procedure\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversion of an abolished legal form: when and with or without application of the conversion procedure?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Company and Associations Code (CAC) reduces the number of legal forms and abolishes many of the currently existing legal forms<\/strong>. Within the category of companies without legal personality, the \u2018tijdelijke handelsvennootschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 momentan\u00e9e\u2019<\/em>) and the \u2018stille handelsvennootschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 interne\u2019<\/em>) both disappear. Indeed, the same objective can be achieved through the form of the \u2018maatschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 simple<\/em>\u2019), whether by setting up a \u2018tijdelijke maatschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 simple momentan\u00e9e<\/em>\u2019) for a limited period of time or a specific project, or a \u2018stille maatschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 simple interne<\/em>\u2019) led by a manager who is acting in his own name. Within the category of companies with uncomplete legal personality (\u2018onvolkomen rechtspersoonlijkheid\u2019\/\u2019personnalit\u00e9 juridique imparfaite<\/em>\u2019), the \u2018co\u00f6peratieve vennootschap met onbeperkte aansprakelijkheid (CVOA)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 cooperative \u00e0 responsabilit\u00e9 illimit\u00e9e (SCRI)<\/em>\u2019) and the \u2018economisch samenwerkingsverband (ESV)\u2019 (\u2018groupement d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat \u00e9conomique (GIE)\u2019<\/em>) disappear as they are similar to the \u2018vennootschap onder firma (VOF)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 en nom collectif (SNC)<\/em>\u2019). The \u2018landbouwvennootschap (LV)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 agricole (SAGR)<\/em>\u2019) is also abolished by the CAC. But in order to maintain the specific features of the \u2018landbouwvennootschap (LV)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 agricole (SAGR)<\/em>\u2019) in terms of agricultural lease legislation and taxation, it continues to exist as individual accreditation, available for the \u2018VOF\u2019 (\u2018SNC<\/em>\u2019), \u2018CommV\u2019 (\u2018SCS<\/em>\u2019), \u2018BV\u2019 (\u2018SP<\/em>\u2019) and \u2018CV\u2019 (\u2018SC<\/em>\u2019). The \u2018commanditaire vennootschap op aandelen (CommVA)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 en commandite par actions (SCA)<\/em>\u2019) is abolished as a legal form, but the specific features of this legal form can be obtained by setting up a \u2018naamloze vennootschap (NV)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 anonyme (SA)<\/em>\u2019) with a sole director. The \u2018vennootschap met sociaal oogmerk (VSO)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e0 finalit\u00e9 sociale (SFS)<\/em>\u2019) has also been converted into an individual accreditation, only available for the \u2018co\u00f6peratieve vennootschap (CV)\u2019 (\u2018soci\u00e9t\u00e9 cooperative (SC)<\/em>\u2019). The same applies for the category \u2018beroepsvereniging\u2019 (\u2018union professionnelle<\/em>\u2019) for which only the \u2018VZW\u2019 (\u2018ASBL<\/em>\u2019) can obtain the individual accreditation.<\/p>\n

The legal forms that have been abolished, can no longer be incorporated as from 1 May 2019 onwards<\/strong>. The CAC foresees a transition period for the existing<\/strong> companies whose legal form has been abolished. These companies can continue to exist in their current form until 1 January 2024<\/strong>. At that date, they will be converted automatically into the closest corresponding legal form (please refer to the table below showing the corresponding legal forms). But please note that the mandatory provisions of their corresponding legal form <\/strong>(except some specific details regarding the \u2018CommVA\u2019 (\u2018SCA<\/em>\u2019)) – will already apply as from 1 January 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

CommVA (SCA) \u2192 NV (SA) with sole director<\/p>\n

LV (SAGR) without silent partners \u2192 VOF (SNC)<\/p>\n

LV (SAGR) with silent partners \u2192 CommV (SCS)<\/p>\n

ESV (GIE) \u2192 VOF (SNC)<\/p>\n

CVOA (SCRI) \u2192 VOF (SNC)<\/p>\n

CVBA (SCRL) that is not corresponding to the new definition \u2192 BV (SP)<\/p>\n

Beroepsvereniging (union professionelle) \u2192 VZW (ASBL)<\/p>\n

Of course, companies whose current legal form has been abolished, can choose to convert before 1 January 2024. This option is even to be preferred in order to avoid confusion as the mandatory provisions of the corresponding legal form shown in the table above, will apply in any case as from 1 January 2020 onwards. The CAC provides that the conversion into the corresponding legal form<\/strong> shown in the table above, can be realized by amending the articles of association without having to apply the conversion procedure<\/strong>. Companies are also free to convert into another legal form <\/strong>than shown in the table above, but this can only be done by applying the<\/strong> conversion procedure<\/strong> stipulated in the Companies Code (this implies: statement of assets and liabilities, audit report by the (statutory) auditor\/external accountant, report of the board, four fifths majority or unanimity).<\/p>\n

Anneleen Steeno, intui attorneys<\/p>\n

anneleen.steeno@intui.be<\/a><\/p>\n

www.intui.be<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Company and Associations Code (CAC) reduces the number of legal forms and abolishes many of the currently existing legal forms. Within the category of companies without legal personality, the \u2018tijdelijke handelsvennootschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 momentan\u00e9e\u2019) and the \u2018stille handelsvennootschap\u2019 (\u2019soci\u00e9t\u00e9 interne\u2019) both disappear. Indeed, the same objective can be achieved through the form of the \u2018maatschap\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[84],"class_list":["post-185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-varia-en"],"authors":[{"term_id":84,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"anneleen-steeno","display_name":"Anneleen Steeno","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5d6b7513130fc1d3aeaf69dcdb63d64d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":186,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions\/186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mergersandacquisitions.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}