Right to Access Company Records: Challenges and Opportunities

This research examines the shareholder's right to inspect company records and documents, highlighting the significance of this right as an effective tool enabling shareholders to exercise their oversight role over the Board of Directors and the company's operations. The study begins by defining the scope of this right across various legislations, with a focus on Libyan and Egyptian law. It outlines the types of information and documents that must be made available to shareholders prior to general assembly meetings, such as the balance sheet, profit and loss statements, auditors' reports, the Board of Directors' report, and executive compensation data. The research discusses the shareholder's inherent right to personal inspection, then moves to the possibility of seeking assistance from an expert (accountant or lawyer) to aid in understanding complex data. It also addresses the penalties for violating the right to inspection, whether civil or criminal, comparing Libyan law, which lacks clear criminal penalties in this regard, with Egyptian law, which stipulates them. The research concludes by offering recommendations to the Libyan legislator on the necessity of strengthening this right and providing effective mechanisms to enable shareholders to fully exercise it, including permitting the use of experts and enacting deterrent criminal penalties.