Assessment of Approximation of the Present Company, Corporate Governance, Accounting and Auditing Legislation and Existing Practices in Ukraine to EU Standards and Practices

Abstract

The purpose of this Study is to review the Ukrainian legislation and practices on company law, corporate governance, accounting and auditing and to examine its current compliance level with the EU law requirements and standards. The Study also provides an update on the main changes in the respective sectors in 2014.

Legal developments is a phenomenon that rarely occurs linear. Times of rapid changes are alternated with times of stagnation, reforms are followed by the times of digest. Ukrainian law does not deviate from this pattern. A few points in time over the last nearly 25 years have marked milestones in the process. These points in time are 1991 – the enactment of the Law on Business Association, 2004 – the adoption of Civil Code and Economic Code and 2008 – birth of the new Law on Joint Stock Companies. Now a new impulse for law reform became topical and politically valid: under the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine that was signed in 2014 Ukraine undertook a legal obligation to bring its legislation in line with the requirements of the EU law. This Study contributes to the part of the Association Agreement concerning the company law, corporate governance, accounting and auditing. The global objective of the Study is to improve business climate in Ukraine by aligning its company, corporate governance, accounting and audit legislation with the EU standards and practices. The Study presents the assessment of current approximation level of relevant legislation of Ukraine to the EU Acquis as well as provides recommendations for its further harmonization. In addition, the Study reaches out to national jurisdictions of some European countries as well as to the US and attempts to learn from their corporate law reforms.

Keywords: Ukrainian Company Law; Europeanisation of Company Law; Self-Enforcing Model of Company Law; Company Law Reform