06/02/2023 at 18:14 By Mariana Valverde and Gabriela Cardoso*
The possibility of publicly traded companies also holding their meetings in virtual and augmented reality environments, such as Metaverse, is heating up discussions about the application of innovations in the business world. In 2020, due to social isolation, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) allowed hybrid or exclusively digital meetings to be held through CVM Instruction 622. This provision represented progress and innovation and avoided the postponement of important decisions. The practice was well accepted and generated a number of benefits, which sparked interest in maintaining it, even in the post-pandemic period. Recently, a Spanish company held its first remote shareholders' meeting, only this time in the immersive space of the Metaverse. Thus, by combining the benefits of the practice with the constant advance of technology, which makes it possible to represent the real world in digital form, a trend has been created that is certainly here to stay and optimize decision-making. With this in mind, Abrasca (Brazilian Association of Publicly Traded Companies), following the transition to holding meetings in the digital environment, consulted the CVM (Securities and Exchange Commission) about holding this type of meeting in the Metaverse. In response to Abrasca's query, CVM, in technical opinion 146, formalized its understanding that, as long as the legal requirements that apply to traditional meetings are respected, companies can use the technology. In this way, as already happens in other segments, Metaverse becomes a technology available for a particular procedure, without excluding previous formats. It is important to note that, in order to hold a digital meeting, the process will have to function normally, with recorded meetings, a record of shareholder attendance and votes. Companies that choose to do so can start using the format immediately, since there is no need for the company to have its registered office in the immersive space of the metaverse. In this way, even families who have their investments regulated by the CVM, through publicly traded family companies, in which managers tend to treat them as an extension of their family assets, will be able to approve and disapprove issues much more easily and quickly. Once again, technology is improving to make our lives easier in all areas. However, just as in the physical face-to-face rite it is necessary to adopt a series of procedures and precautions to hold the meeting, its transfer to virtual reality will require an important amount of guarantees so that they are not invalidated. In addition, it is important to guarantee the security and preservation of digital data. That said, the use of this resource to hold meetings must be accompanied by trained professionals equipped with the necessary mechanisms to guarantee security and not turn progress into a burden. *Mariana Valverde and Gabriela Cardoso, respectively partner and member of Moreau Valverde Advogados.