JD Supra Germany

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Latest documents

• How Germany’s New ESG Law Will Affect Suppliers Globally

  The Supply Chain Act poses new challenges to suppliers when conducting business with new or existing German-based customers. Key Points: ..The Supply Chain Act obliges in-scope companies to identify, address, and report on human rights-related and environmental risks in their supply and value chains. ..Suppliers to German businesses should familiarize themselves with this legislation and anticipate that their German customers will require ESG-related information and related contractual safeguards. ..Suppliers should update their compliance management systems, allocate internal responsibility to communicate with customers falling within the scope of this Act, consider undertaking a (voluntary) risk assessment, and update their own supplier code of conduct. Please see full Alert below for more information.

• Establishing a Business Entity in Germany (Updated)

  Anyone can establish a business in Germany - irrespective of citizenship, nationality, or place of residence. There is no specific investment legislation for foreign entrepreneurs. Any entrepreneur can make his choice from an exclusive group of different types of legal entities to establish a new company in Germany. Please see full Chapter below for more information.

• Öffentliche Übernahmen in Deutschland Newsletter 2023

  Herzlich willkommen zur sechsten Ausgabe unseres Newsletters “Öffentliche Übernahmen in Deutschland”. Er gibt einen Marktüberblick über die im zurückliegenden Jahr 2022 in Deutschland nach dem Wertpapier- und Übernahmegesetz (WpÜG) durchgeführten öffentlichen Übernahmen und die aktuellen Rechtsentwicklungen im deutschen Übernahmerecht. Als eine global agierende Rechtsanwaltskanzlei beobachten wir fortlaufend den M&A-Markt im In- und Ausland. Die hierbei gewonnen Erkenntnisse möchten wir mit Ihnen mit diesem Newsletter teilen. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• The Technology, Media and Telecommunications Review, 13th Edition - Germany

  This 13th edition of The Technology, Media and Telecommunications Review provides updated overviews of legal and policy constructs and developments in the TMT arena across 18 jurisdictions around the world. As in years past, our goal with this publication is to provide a practical, business-focused survey of these issues, along with insights into how regulatory activity in this arena continues to evolve. Policymakers in 2022 have continued to grapple with the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, which has focussed greater attention on the need for ubiquitous broadband internet connectivity and has hastened efforts to make broadband services more widely available. The height of the pandemic saw a significant rise in remote working, distance learning, tele-health visits, and similar broadband-enabled activities. And while more businesses and schools are now returning to an in-person environment, it remains the case that work, education, and other aspects of our daily lives are more reliant on broadband connectivity today than before the pandemic. Originally published by Law Business Research Ltd - December 2022. Please see full Chapter below for more information.

• Takeover Monitor: Current German Public Tender Offers | Issue 5

  The Morgan Lewis Takeover Monitor documents public tender ofers in Germany for Morgan Lewis clients and interested persons. This issue covers published and announced current offers as of November 23, 2022. PUBLIC TENDER OFFERS UNDER THE GERMAN SECURITIES ACQUISITION AND TAKEOVER ACT (WpÜG): OFFERS, RESULTS, AND ANALYSES CURRENT OFFERS The current offers aim at a delisting of the respective target companies, regardless of whether that may be a subsequent project envisaged at a later time, such as in the context of the takeover ofer to the shareholders of home24 SE, or whether the delisting is directly connected with the completion of the ofer proceeding, such as in the context of the delisting self-tender offer of a.a.a. aktiengesellschaft allgemeine anlageverwaltung or the delisting tender offer to the shareholders of GSW Immobilien AG. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• OLNS#10: University Entrepreneurship & Spin-offs in Germany – Set-up / IP / Financing and Much More

  In substantially all the major world markets, we have dedicated technology lawyers who support young German technology companies on their growth trajectory through all stages. As one of the top tech law firms in the world, we are particularly committed to bringing the American and German entrepreneurship ecosystems closer together. For this purpose, we have launched the Orrick Legal Ninja Series (OLNS) back in 2019. With this series, we will provide overviews on current legal trends and take deeper dives on certain legal topics particularly relevant for start-ups and their investors. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• New draft 11th Amendment to the German Competition Act

  The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action (BMWK) has proposed a small, but almost revolutionary 11th amendment of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition. It is expected to come into effect in early 2023. The proposed reform would bring about three key changes...

• German Draft Competition Law Amendment Includes Far Reaching Remedial Powers Absent Actual Infringements

  Under the draft law, the FCO could impose behavioural and structural remedies following a sector inquiry without finding an infringement of German or EU competition law. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (Bundeswirtschaftsministerium (BMWK)) has published a draft law that would grant the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) broad and unprecedented powers to remedy perceived “disruptions” of competition (including divestiture orders). Separately, the proposal would substantially facilitate the disgorgement of revenues affected by a competition infringement and private actions for violations of the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA). Please see full Alert below for more information.

• 3 months to go: Are you ready for the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act?

  On 1 January 2023, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will enter into force. In a first step, all companies which have a specific nexus to Germany and normally employ 3,000 people or more will have to comply with newly imposed due diligence obligations aimed at minimising the risk of infringements of human rights and environmental standards. Suppliers to such companies are already being asked to comply with similar obligations irrespective of whether the law currently applies to the suppliers themselves. In any case, the law will also become directly applicable to German companies normally employing 1,000 people or more as of 1 January 2024. Please see Publication below for more information.

• Clean Teams in M&A Transactions

  Competition authorities across the globe are increasingly enforcing procedural merger control rules monitoring the exchange of competitively sensitive information. This turns the spotlight on the use of clean teams in M&A transactions. Although the clean team concept is well established and now, for the first time, mentioned in the draft revised Horizontal Guidelines of the European Commission, key questions – eg, who is allowed to be a member, what information is clean-team only – are still subject to discussion. This bulletin provides guidance on the most pressing issues. Please see Publication below for more information.

Featured documents

• Divided Patent Infringement in Germany

  This article provides an overview of how divided patent infringement is viewed in Germany. The article is addressed to US Patent Counsel dealing with international patent portfolios. There are situations, in particular in the computing arts context, where inventions involving methods or...

• Labor Courts in Germany extend Employer’s Rights to Monitor and Control Employee IT Devices

  In a series of recent verdicts since 2011, Higher Labor Courts in Germany have increased the employer’s scope to monitor and control employees’ use of provided company IT and to sanction breaches of contract and statutory law discovered hereby....

• Readjustment of Taxation of Free Floating Dividends and of Fiscal Unity – Current Legislative Procedures

  Reform of taxation of free floating dividends for corporate income tax purposes The German Parliament (Bundestag) and the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) reached an agreement regarding the taxation of free floating dividends received from holdings of less than 10 % (Streubesitzdividenden). In ...

• Job Interviews in Germany: No Right to ask Applicants about Preliminary Investigations by Public Prosecution Office

  The German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) recently passed a decision (BAG, November 11, 2012 – 6 AZR 339/11) that dealt with an “evergreen” of German labor law: What questions employers may ask in interviews with job applicants and what questions are not allowed to be asked....

• Regelungen zur Arbeitnehmerüberlassung und Verhinderung des Missbrauchs von Werkverträgen im Koalitionsvertrag

  Vor circa einer Woche einigten sich die Vertreter von CDU, CSU und SPD nach langen Verhandlungen auf einen Koalitionsvertrag (abrufbar beispielsweise unter http://www.spiegel.de/media/media-32776.pdf). Dieser enthält wichtige Aussagen zu den viel diskutierten Problematiken des Missbrauchs von...

• BMF-Schreiben zur Übertragung von Wirtschaftsgu¨tern und Mitunternehmeranteilen

  BMF ordnet vorläufige Nichtanwendung der aktuellen BFH-Rechtsprechung an. In einem Schreiben vom 12. September 2013 befasst sich das BMF mit drei Urteilen des BFH, die verschiedene Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Übertragung von Wirtschaftsgütern und Mitunternehmeranteilen durch Mitunternehmer ...

• German Court Rules Against Facebook’s “Friend Finder”

  On January 24, 2014, in a case filed against Facebook by German consumer protection association VZBV, the Berlin Court of Appeal (“Court”) upheld a lower court ruling that Facebook’s “Friend Finder” function is unlawful. The Court agreed with the Berlin Regional Court’s 2012 decision that the...

• “Wegweisendes” BAG-Urteil zur Rücksichtspflicht des Arbeitgebers bei der Zuweisung von Schichtarbeit

  Das Bundesarbeitsgericht hat in seiner Entscheidung vom 9. April – Aktenzeichen 10 AZR 637/13 – die Rechte von Schichtarbeitern im Falle einer gesundheitlich bedingten Unfähigkeit zum Leisten von Nachtarbeit gestärkt....

• The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive—Implementation in Germany

  Following up on our Client Alert as of 18 February 2014 which covered the implications the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) will have on US fund managers in general, this Client Alert sets out the essentials of the implementation of the AIFMD in Germany. Such implementation ...

• CGZP-Nachforderungen: Keine persönliche Haftung der Geschäftsführer für nicht abgeführte SV-Beiträge

  Hat ein Unternehmen nach der Entscheidung des BAG vom 14. Dezember 2010 (1 ABR 19/10) über die Tarifunfähigkeit der CGZP nicht selbstständig höhere Sozialversicherungsbeiträge rückwirkend nachgemeldet und abgeführt, haftet der Geschäftsführer nicht persönlich auf Schadensersatz. Da im Zeitpunkt der ...