For derivative transactions that are relocated from the United Kingdom to the EEA or newly concluded there, in many cases new master agreements must be concluded between the involved parties. The total volume of European derivatives trading (measured by open gross notional amount) amounted to around €681 trillion at the end of 2019 as announced … Continue Reading
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron presented a joint Franco-German proposal on the European recovery from the coronavirus crisis on 18 May 2020. The main aim is to set up a €500 billion Recovery Fund at EU level for solidarity and growth, managed by the EU Commission. The funds are to be … Continue Reading
The German Federal Government has launched a series of assistance packages of measures for business against the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the German Government is of the opinion that start-ups and young technology companies are particularly important for the German economy. See our alert for further details about the new measures.… Continue Reading
On May 15, 2020 the German Bundesrat approved the Second Law for the Protection of the Population in the Event of an Epidemic Situation of National Significance. The law contains numerous legal amendments and regulatory powers to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic such as preventative testing and the care bonus to ensure the functioning of … Continue Reading
This quick guide summarises the duties that directors of German companies are subject to and how those duties change when the company is insolvent or at risk of being insolvent. It also gives an overview of the personal risk to directors when the company is in financial difficulty and suggests some practical tips to help … Continue Reading
Under German law, there are strict legal obligations for the managing directors of an insolvent company to file for insolvency. Failure to comply exposes a managing director to civil and criminal liability. It is therefore important for managing directors to know how to test whether their company is insolvent. One of the legal reasons for insolvency … Continue Reading
A recent ruling of the German Federal Civil Court (Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”)) is a reminder of the risks which shareholders of a German company can face in an insolvency of their German subsidiary. Under the German Insolvency Code (“InsO”), claims for repayment of a loan granted by a shareholder who holds more than 10% of the … Continue Reading
German insolvency laws are very strict. The management of an insolvent company is under strict obligations to file for insolvency, and failure to comply with such obligation may result in civil and criminal liability. Other stakeholders, like financing banks or suppliers, who are dealing with a distressed company, require documentation that their contract partner can … Continue Reading
In the context of German restructuring, bridge loans (Überbrückungskredite) are loans that are granted to financially distressed companies until a restructuring plan is formulated in order to avoid the company’s insolvency. In most cases, such loans are granted for a limited timeframe. After the restructuring plan has been finalized, renegotiations are usually required, in particular between the … Continue Reading
Air Berlin, one of Europe’s largest airlines, filed for insolvency on 15 August 2017. The airline, which is Germany’s second-largest carrier after Lufthansa, filed following the decision by Etihad Airways to pull financial support. Etihad owns 29% of Air Berlin and had been pumping money into the struggling airline for the past 6 years. The … Continue Reading
The German Federal Supreme Court for Civil Matters (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) held in two cases on 4 July 2017 that provisions contained in the standard contracts of banks providing for the payment of management or loan administration fees (Bearbeitungsentgelt) by the borrower is invalid under German law, irrespective of whether the borrower is a consumer … Continue Reading
On 5 April 2017, an amendment to the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung – “InsO”) has come into force which provides for various changes to the avoidance rules and clawback laws in German insolvency proceedings. The major change affects the right of an insolvency administrator to challenge transactions for willful disadvantage (§ 133 InsO).… Continue Reading
The question whether restructuring profits are taxable or not has been answered differently in Germany in the past. However, on 7 February 2017, a decision of the Grand Senate of the Federal Fiscal Court (the “FFC Decision”) was published, in which the highest German tax court declared the Restructuring Decree as unlawful. The FFC found that … Continue Reading
While the number of corporate insolvencies in Germany has declined over the last couple of years, the general market perception is that the number of insolvencies may increase again in 2017. Also, as more larger companies are facing distressed situations, the overall value of distressed debt is therefore expected to rise as well. The legal … Continue Reading
The European Central Bank (ECB) has launched a public consultation on its guidance to banks on handling non-performing loans (NPLs), which is open until 15 November 2016. The ECB has also published the first stocktake of national supervisory practices and legal frameworks concerning NPLs. The draft NPL guidance to banks, which is available on the ECB … Continue Reading
The statistics show that over 10,000 English limited companies operate in Germany. The company is registered in the Companies Register in the UK, but has a branch active in Germany, which is registered in German Company registries. On 10 December 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) decided on the question whether … Continue Reading
Maple Bank GmbH (“Maple”) has operated in Frankfurt, Germany since 1994. The bank acted in the business areas of equity and fixed income trading, repos and securities lending, deposits, structured products and institutional sales. Maple has branches in Germany, Netherlands and Canada and subsidiaries in U.S., U.K. and the Cayman islands. It is part of the … Continue Reading
Hypo Group Alpe Adria AG, an Austrian banking group, was nationalized by the Austrian government in 2009 in order to avert a bank collapse. The Austrian province of Carinthia owned the bank until 2007 and the guarantees given by Carinthia for the bank’s debt still amount to several times its annual budget, which has made the winding-down … Continue Reading
The European Union regulation on derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR) introduces new requirements to improve transparency and reduce the risks associated with the derivatives market. EMIR also establishes common organisational, conduct of business and prudential standards for Central Counterparties (CCPs) and trade repositories. In the EU official journal, it was stated on 1 December 2015 that … Continue Reading
Complex multi-jurisdictional insolvencies are an inevitable consequence of the increasingly global nature of big business. The collapse of the likes of Barings, Enron and most recently Lehmans (the latter involving insolvency proceedings in some 16 jurisdictions) have highlighted the growing need for legislative action to promote cross-border co-operation and protect the interests of international creditors. … Continue Reading
When Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank International AG (Hypo), the Austrian bank, failed in 2014, the Austrian Government paved the way for the establishment of Heta Asset Resolution AG (Heta) as a wind-down vehicle to assume and manage large parts of its assets. The idea was to wind down Hypo by 2020. The Austrian “Act on the Recovery and … Continue Reading
Previous posts have explained some aspects of the ROT concept in Germany (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Now it is time to consider how ROT actually works in the insolvency of a German customer. The most important point in this respect is that the potential protection granted by ROT does not work automatically. Instead, action … Continue Reading
A previous post introduced the general concept of ROT provisions as a means to protect suppliers as creditors in the insolvency of their customers. The basic principle of ROT under German law is that the supplier remains the owner of the goods which it has supplied to its customer until the customer has fully paid … Continue Reading
