Steward-ownership: putting the mission at the centre of enterprise

Steward-ownership separates control from economic rights, ensuring that a company’s mission remains central and protected over time. It enables long-term value creation while limiting the influence of external investors. In the Netherlands, it is typically structured through combinations of legal entities, each requiring careful governance and tailored documentation.

Wagevoe

Since 1 January 2025, a new act was introduced for shareholder disputes: the ‘Act amending the dispute resolution rules and clarifying the admissibility requirements for inquiry proceedings’ (in short: Wagevoe). Before 2025, anyone who wanted to buy out a co-shareholder or leave a company could usually expect a long process involving various procedures. As my colleague Rick Dijksterhuis explained at the time in his earlier contribution on this bill, the legislator had one clear goal: to make the resolution of shareholder disputes faster, simpler and more practical. In practice, we see that this has an impact on the way shareholders litigate.