Source: https://lawstrust.com/en/news/gruppa-lic-affilirovannye-lica-vzaimozavisimye-lica-v-chem-zhe-raznica
Timestamp: 2020-04-09 00:39:00
Document Index: 139824033

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 14', 'art 1', 'art;\n15', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'Art. 105']

Group of persons. Affiliated persons. Interdependent persons. What is the difference? | Law & Trust international
Group of persons. Affiliated persons. Interdependent persons. What is the difference?
Date added: : 13.05.2016
In order to both compete and protect the market, transactions between groups of persons are limited. In this regard, when concluding contracts, we often face the importance of determining whether the counterparty is in one group of persons with us. It is worth noting that, in accordance with the legislative framework in the sphere of market relations, the company and its group of persons are perceived as integral unit.
In pursuing the objectives of controlling related-party transactions and protecting the market, public companies (and others, depending on their activities) publish or provide to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBRF) a list of affiliated persons. We come across this concept when working with such companies.
For more detailed information on this issue, please contact the lawyers of Law&Trust International.
Below is the table with a detailed definition of concepts.
Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ "On Protection of Competition"
(with amendments and additions, which came into force from 01.09.2013)
A group of persons is referred to as an aggregate of natural persons and / or legal entities that correspond to one or more of the following conditions: (this wording is included by the Federal Law No. 164-FZ of July 17, 2009, before its publication it was easier - "a group of persons is recognized as"):
1) a business entity (partnership) and an individual or a legal entity, if such individual or such legal entity has, by virtue of its participation in this business entity (partnership) or in accordance with the authority received from other persons, more than 50% of the total the number of votes attributable to voting shares (stakes) in the authorized (share) capital of this business entity (partnership);
2) business entities (partnerships) in which the same individual or the same legal entity has, by virtue of its participation in these business entities (partnerships) or in accordance with the authority received from other persons, more than 50% the total number of votes attributable to voting shares (stakes) in the authorized (share) capital of each of these business entities (partnerships);
3) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity, if such individual or such legal entity exercises the functions of the sole executive body of this business entity;
4) business entities in which the same individual or the same legal entity exercises the functions of the sole executive body;
5) a business entity (partnership) and an individual or a legal entity if such individual or such legal entity on the basis of the constituent documents of this business entity (partnership) or the contract concluded with this business entity (partnership) has the right to provide this business entity (partnership) with binding instructions;
6) business entities (partnerships) in which the same individual or the same legal entity on the basis of the founding documents of these business entities (partnerships) or the contracts concluded with these business entities (partnerships) is entitled to give binding instructions to these business entities (partnerships);
7) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity if, at the suggestion of such individual or such legal entity, a sole executive body of this business entity is appointed or elected;
8) business entities, the sole executive body of which was appointed or elected at the suggestion of the same individual or the same legal entity;
9) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity if, at the suggestion of such individual or such legal entity, more than 50% of the number of the collegial executive body or the board of directors (supervisory board) of this business entity are elected;
10) business entities in which more than 50% of the number of collegial executive body and (or) the board of directors (supervisory board) are elected at the suggestion of the same individual or the same legal entity;
11) business entities in which more than 50% of the number of collegial executive body and (or) the board of directors (supervisory board) are the same individuals;
12) persons who are members of the same financial and industrial group;
13) an individual, his/her spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), children (including adopted children), brothers and sisters of the whole blood or brothers and sisters of the half blood. As stated in Art. 14 of the Family code of the Russian Federation, brothers and sisters of the half blood accordingly are brothers and sisters who have a common father or mother;
14) persons, each of whom, on any ground specified in clauses 1-13 of this part, is included in the group with the same person, as well as other persons who enter with any of such persons in one group according to any specified ground in clauses 1-13 of this part. Prior to amending the Federal Law No. 164-FZ of July 17, 2009, it referred to other persons belonging to the same group "with each such person" and not "any of such persons". Under the terms of validity of this edition, the letter of the FAS of Russia No. ATs/5969 of March 20, 2008, "On Clarifying the Application of the Antimonopoly Legislation," it was explained that in the event that an individual is included in the group of persons of a legal entity, the relatives entering into one group of persons with this individual upon the grounds specified in clause 13 of part 1 of the article to be commented will not be included with the specified legal entity in the group of persons on the grounds specified in clause 14 of this part, provided that these relatives do not constitute a group of persons with another legal entity on any of the grounds specified in clauses 1-12 of this part;
15) a business entity (partnership), individuals and (or) legal persons who, according to any of the characteristics specified in par. 1-14 of this part, are included in one group of persons, if such persons by virtue of their joint participation in this business entity (partnership) or in accordance with the powers and authority received from other persons, have more than 50% of the total number of votes attributable to voting shares (stakes) in the authorized (share) capital of this business entity (partnership).
In fact, we are talking about a group of persons when there is an aggregate of subjects, one of whom may influence the activities of another, or the activity of several subjects may be influenced by the same subject (subjects), with emerging of dependency relations and the possibility of implementing a single coherent policy on the market.
All the relationships, due to which a group of persons can be considered, can be grouped as follows:
1) property relations;
2) ancestral relationship;
3) corporate and contractual relations;
4) managerial relations;
5) organizational relations;
6) relations of a mixed nature;
7) other relationships.
Property relations. A group of persons refers to:
1) a business entity (partnership) and an individual or a legal entity, if such individual or such legal entity has, by virtue of his participation in this business entity (partnership) or in accordance with the authority received from other persons, more than 50% of the total the number of votes attributable to voting shares (stakes) in the authorized (share) capital of this business entity (partnership);
Ancestral relationship. A group of persons is comprised by an individual, his/her spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), children (including adopted children), brothers and sisters of the whole blood or brothers and sisters of the half blood.
Corporate and contractual relations. A group of persons is constituted by:
1) a business entity (partnership) and an individual or a legal entity if such individual or such legal entity on the basis of the constituent documents of this business entity (partnership) or the contract concluded with this business entity (partnership) has the right to provide this business entity (partnership) with binding instructions;
2) business entities (partnerships) in which the same individual or the same legal entity on the basis of the founding documents of these business entities (partnerships) or the contracts concluded with these business entities (partnerships) is entitled to give binding instructions to these business entities (partnerships);
Managerial relations. A group of persons includes:
1) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity, if such individual or such legal entity exercises the functions of the sole executive body of this business entity;
2) business entities in which the same individual or the same legal entity exercises the functions of the sole executive body;
Organizational relations. A group of persons is composed of persons who are members of the same financial and industrial group.
Relations of a mixed nature. A group of persons involves:
1) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity if, at the suggestion of such individual or such legal entity, a sole executive body of this business entity is appointed or elected;
2) business entities, the sole executive body of which was appointed or elected at the suggestion of the same individual or the same legal entity;
3) a business entity and an individual or a legal entity if, at the suggestion of such individual or such legal entity, more than 50% of the number of the collegial executive body or the board of directors (supervisory board) of this business entity are elected;
4) business entities in which more than 50% of the number of collegial executive body and (or) the board of directors (supervisory board) are elected at the suggestion of the same individual or the same legal entity;
5) business entities in which more than 50% of the number of collegial executive body and (or) the board of directors (supervisory board) are the same individuals;
These relations at first glance are the closest to management ones. However, the reasons according to which certain person has the authority to form the management bodies of another person may be very different, in particular property or contractual ones. Therefore, it seems appropriate to allocate these relations to an additional group of relations - mixed relations.
Other relationships. Separately, we should stop at clause 14 of part 1 of Article 9 of the Law on Protection of Competition. In accordance with it, a group of persons are persons, each of whom, under any of the grounds indicated in the Law, is included in the group of persons with the same person, as well as all other persons who are included with any such person in one group for any reason, any of the bases indicated in the Law.
According to the amendments made to the Law on the Protection of Competition N 164-FZ dated July 17, 2009, a group of persons consists of a business entity (partnership), individuals and (or) legal persons, who, for any ground specified in clauses 1 - 14 of part 1 of Article 9 of the Law on Protection of Competition, are included in one group of persons if such persons have, by virtue of their joint participation in this business entity (partnership) or in accordance with the authority received from other persons, more than 50% of the total number of votes attributable to voting shares (shares) in the authorized (share) capital of this business entity (partnership).
Article 4 of the Federal Law of July 26, 2006 No. 135-FZ "On Protection of Competition"
Affiliated persons are individuals and legal entities that can influence the activities of legal entities and/or individuals engaged in entrepreneurial activities.
Affiliated persons of a legal entity are:
- a member of its Board of Directors (supervisory board) or other collegial management body, a member of its collegial executive body, as well as a person exercising the powers of its sole executive body;
- persons who have the right to dispose of more than 20 percent of the total number of votes attributable to shares (contributions, stakes) constituting the authorized (share) capital of this legal entity;
- a legal entity in which this legal entity has the right to dispose of more than 20 percent of the total number of votes attributable to shares (contributions, stakes) constituting the authorized (share) capital of this legal entity;
- if a legal entity is a member of a financial and industrial group, its affiliated persons also include members of the Boards of Directors (supervisory boards) or other collegial management bodies, collegial executive bodies of participants in the financial and industrial group, as well as persons exercising the powers of the sole executive bodies of the participants in the financial and industrial group;
- persons belonging to the group of persons to which this legal entity belongs.
Affiliated persons of an individual engaged in entrepreneurial activities are:
- a legal entity in which this individual has the right to dispose of more than 20 percent of the total number of votes attributable to shares (contributions, stakes) constituting the authorized (share) capital of this legal entity;
- persons belonging to the group of persons to which the individual belongs.
It can be noticed that the list of persons who can be recognized as affiliated ones is considerably wide.
Thus, the necessary feature of an affiliated person is the existence of dependency relationships between an individual or a legal entity and its affiliated person. Moreover, these relationships can be property (based on participation in the authorized capital of a legal entity), contractual, organizational (related to the opportunity to participate in the management of a legal entity), ancestral ones.
P. 1, Art. 105.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (Part One) of 31.07.1998 N 146-FZ (as amended on 02.11.2013)
Clause 1 of Article 105.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation introduces into the Code a new definition of interdependent persons. In accordance with the Federal Law adopted, interdependent persons are defined by the legislator as persons relations between whom can have impact not only on the result of economic activities of each other or the persons represented by them, but also the terms of the contracts concluded between them.
The article contains a list of interdependent persons:
1) organizations, in case one organization directly and (or) indirectly participates in another organization and the share of such participation is more than 25 percent;
2) an individual and an organization, in case such individual directly and / or indirectly participates in such organization and the share of such participation is more than 25 percent;
3) organizations, in case the same person directly and (or) indirectly participates in these organizations and the share of such participation in each organization is more than 25 percent;
4) an organization and a person (including an individual together with his/her interdependent persons indicated in subparagraph 11 of this clause) who has the authority to appoint (elect) the sole executive body of this organization or to appoint (elect) at least 50 percent of the composition of the collegial executive body or board of directors (supervisory board) of this organization;
5) organizations which sole executive bodies or at least 50 percent of the members of the collegial executive body or the board of directors (supervisory board) of which are appointed or elected by decision of the same person (an individual together with its interdependent persons specified in subparagraph 11 of this clause);
6) organizations in which more than 50 percent of the collegial executive body or the board of directors (supervisory board) are the same individuals in conjunction with the interdependent persons specified in subparagraph 11 of this clause;
7) an organization and a person exercising the powers of its sole executive body;
8) organizations in which the authority of the sole executive body is exercised by the same person;
9) organizations and (or) individuals in the event that the share of direct participation of each previous person in each subsequent organization is more than 50 percent;
10) individuals in the event that one individual is subordinated to another individual according to his/her official job position;
​​​​​​11) an individual, his spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), children (including adopted children), brothers and sisters of the whole blood or brothers and sisters of the half blood, a guardian and a person under the care of a guardian.