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Latest documents

• 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.

• Pharmaceutical Antitrust

  Our Hamburg-based German antitrust team has contributed a chapter on Germany to Lexology Get The Deal Through’s global report on Pharmaceutical Antitrust. In their contribution, they provide guidance on the regulatory framework, merger control aspects and potential enforcement risks with regard to anticompetitive agreements as well as anticompetitive unilateral conduct for those active in the German pharmaceutical sector. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• The New European Approach to Calculating Fines for Data Protection Breaches - Will it be More Predictable and Consistent?

  On May 12, 2022, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published its long-awaited Guidelines 04/2022 on the calculation of fines under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). After many data protection authorities only cautiously approached fining data protection violations immediately after the introduction of the GDPR, sanctioning has clearly picked up speed in the past year and resulted in total fines of approximately 1.5 billion euros. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• Environmental Law in Germany - Our Expertise

  Environmental law covers a range of legal areas which are often of crucial importance for investment projects in approval procedures under emissions control law and sectoral planning law or in other legal fields. The main elements of environmental law include emissions control law, water law, soil conservation and contamination law, nature conservation law, mining law and nuclear law. Reliable, competent legal advice for these complex matters is indispensable and pays dividends. With our expertise built up over many years, we can provide you with the necessary support. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• CfD regime for offshore wind in Germany

  The new German government has ambitious targets for offshore wind: It aims at more than 70GW of offshore wind by 2045. At least 30GW of offshore wind capacity shall be installed by 2030 already. Less than 10GW are currently in operation. This means that more than 20GW of offshore wind capacity needs to be commissioned in little more than eight years. Hence, the German government plans offshore wind tenders of up to 9GW in 2023 and 2024, 5GW in 2025 and 2026, followed by 4GW each year for the next decades. However, the current tender and support regime for offshore wind in Germany struggles to cope with zero subsidy bids and high electricity prices. Against this background, new legislation has been proposed. In addition to other substantial changes, it shall introduce a contract-fordifference regime, something that the offshore wind industry has long been demanding. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• Taxation of crypto-currencies and block-chain transactions

  In 2008, a developer - known only under the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto"- published the first whitepaper for the crypto-currency "Bitcoin", which has proven to be a highly volatile investment for currency speculators. The first currency-token2 is based on the blockchain - a distributed ledger technology. Please see full Publication below for more information.

• Public Takeovers in Germany Newsletter 2022

  Welcome to the fifth edition of our “Public Takeovers in Germany” newsletter. It provides an overview of public takeovers carried out in Germany in 2021 under the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (WpÜG) and of recent developments in German public takeover law. As a global law firm, we are constantly observing the M&A markets in Germany and abroad. We would like to share our insights with you in this newsletter. Please see full Newsletter below for more information.

• Öffentliche Übernahmen in Deutschland Newsletter 2022

  Herzlich willkommen zur fünften Ausgabe unseres Newsletters “Öffentliche Übernahmen in Deutschland”. Er gibt einen Marktüberblick über die im zurückliegenden Jahr 2021 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 gewonnenen Erkenntnisse möchten wir mit Ihnen mit diesem Newsletter teilen.

Featured documents

• New BaFin Guidance Notice Related to UCITS Notifications under UCITS IV

  The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungaufsicht - BaFin) published an updated guidance notice on 5 July 2011 with regard to the public distribution of foreign UCITS in Germany, reflecting changes to Directive 2009/65/EC (“UCITS Directive”)...

• German Legislation to Regulate Algorithmic Traders and Trading Strategies on German Trading Venues

  On July 30, the German Ministry of Finance presented new draft legislation in the form of an “Act for the Prevention of Risks and the Abuse of High Frequency Trading” (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Vermeidung von Gefahren und Missbräuchen im Hochfrequenzhandel)....

• Learning From Germany re Advanced Manufacturing, Including 3-D Printing and Nanotechnology

  In Germany this week on business which has me thinking about some things related to Germany. For example, what can we learn from Germany and their relative economic success, including energy policy and manufacturing?...

• Berlin Court Rules that Apple's Privacy Policy Violates German Data Protection Laws

  A Berlin court ruled that eight clauses in Apple Sales International's (“Apple”) standard data use policy, which covers how the company can share data, do not comply with Germany’s privacy protection laws and enjoined Apple, which is based in Ireland, from relying on these clauses in contracts with ...

• The Landgericht Düsseldorf’s (Düsseldorf District Court) decision to refer “LTE standard“

  With the patent infringement case “LTE-Standard“ the Landgericht Düsseldorf has on 21 March 2013 deviated from the hitherto established practice and challenged the Bundesgerichtshof’s (German Federal High Court of Justice) case law regarding the applicability of the defence of compulsory licence as ...

• Vera¨ußerung von Dividendenanspru¨chen durch Steuerausla¨nder an Dritte – neues BMF-Schreiben

  Ist der Veräußerungserlös steuerfrei, erfolgt nach höchst umstrittener Ansicht des BMF eine Besteuerung der Dividenden. Mit Schreiben vom 26. Juli 2013 hat sich das BMF zu den ertragsteuerlichen Folgen der Veräußerung von Dividendenansprüchen durch Steuerausländer an Dritte geäußert. Ausga...

• Neues zur Arbeitsbescheinigung

  Bisher musste der Arbeitgeber bei jeder Beendigung des Arbeitsverhältnisses eine Arbeitsbescheinigung ausstellen, die alle notwendigen Angaben für die Gewährung von Arbeitslosengeld enthielt. Tatsächlich beantragt aber weit weniger als die Hälfte der Arbeitnehmer, deren Beschäftigungsverhältnis...

• Gesetzentwurf zum Mindestlohn

  Der flächendeckende Mindestlohn wird kommen: Bundesarbeitsministerin Andrea Nahles hat gestern ihren Entwurf eines Mindestlohngesetzes fertig gestellt und an die anderen Ministerien gesendet. Die Abstimmung darüber im Bundeskabinett soll am 02. April stattfinden. Nachdem in einem Spitzentreffen der ...

• Schadensersatzklage gegen Uwe Sehlbach in erster Instanz gescheitert

  Die Schadensersatzklagen dreier Unternehmen des ThyssenKrupp-Konzerns gegen den früheren Bereichsvorstand und Geschäftsführer Uwe Sehlbach sind vor dem Arbeitsgericht Essen gescheitert. Grund der Klage war die Belastung von Unternehmen des Konzerns insbesondere mit Bußgeldern in Höhe von insgesamt...

• Rente mit 63 – Probleme für Arbeitnehmer in der Altersteilzeit

  Das RV-Leistungsverbesserungsgesetz sieht vor, zum 1. Juli 2014 die Altersgrenze für eine abschlagsfreie Rente auf 63 Jahre nach 45 Beitragsjahren abzusenken. Diese Absenkung stellt Arbeitnehmer in Altersteilzeit vor ein nicht zu vernachlässigendes Problem. Viele Tarifverträge sehen vor, dass das...