Morgan Lewis (JD Supra Germany)

The Financial Market Integrity Strengthening Act includes a large number of innovations aimed at strengthening confidence in the German financial market by placing more comprehensive obligations on auditors when auditing companies of public interest. In addition to optimizing balance sheet control and further regulating the auditing of financial statements, the innovations also affect corporate...

IP rights with a nexus to Germany can create a variety of tax issues under German tax law. These include aspects of German or foreign IP rights generating “German source income,” questions of withholding tax obligations, a potentially limited deductibility of royalty payments in Germany, and reporting obligations under “DAC 6.”

The 10th amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC) entered into force on January 19 (ARC Digitization Act); the act seeks to modernize German antitrust rules and address challenges associated with the increasing digitization of the global economy.

The 16th Amendment to the German Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance entered into effect on October 28, 2020, the third step in the German government’s efforts to tighten its foreign direct investment review regime in 2020.

Public tender offers under the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act: Offers, results and analyses - Following the lapse of the takeover offer to the shareholders of QIAGEN B.V. caused by the failure to meet the reduced minimum acceptance condition at the end of the extended acceptance period and the completion of the mandatory offer to the shareholders of Vita 34 AG, there are...

The updated German Foreign Trade and Payments Act enters into effect on July 17 and is the second of three major steps planned for 2020 to reform Germany’s foreign direct investment regime.

Two key amendments to the German competition law entered into effect on May 29, 2020, temporarily extending merger control review periods and temporarily suspending interest payments for antitrust fines, further to a bill adopted by the German Parliament to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on trade.

New patient consent forms in Germany cover the use of patient care data and clinical and biomedical research. German Data Protection Commission DSK has approved a revised version of forms that the so-called Medical Informatics Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research had produced in order to comply with data protection laws.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic challenges people, economies, and governments across the globe. This LawFlash highlights the actions affecting employers and employees that the German federal government has taken, or is about to take, to respond to these challenges. The situation is dynamic and should be monitored closely.

Germany debates whether apps related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic would be useful, what they should cover, and what the ramifications would be under applicable data protection laws.

A new law in Germany aims to benefit consumers and microenterprises by protecting the loss of essential services in the form of temporary deferrals of contractual obligations and loans during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In order to avoid a large number of corporate insolvencies, the German Parliament adopted a law on March 25 to mitigate the consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in civil, insolvency, and criminal procedural laws. The law will be effective retroactive to March 1, 2020.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has led the German federal government to take an unprecedented series of protective and supportive measures, which will be reflected in the federal budget and in subsidies to be paid directly to companies, small companies, self-employed entrepreneurs, and employees in need to safeguard their liquidity and economic existence during the crisis.

The German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has published the draft bill on the 10th amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition, which includes a proposal for the revision of abuse control in Germany. Such revision would be of high relevance for undertakings in the digital sector.

On 1 January 2020, the Act on the Implementation of the Amendment Directive to the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive (Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Änderungsrichtlinie zur Vierten EU-Geldwäscherichtlinie) will enter into force in Germany. The new law introduces a number of regulatory changes that go beyond the regulation of money laundering prevention. In particular, the act will amend the German...

The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has determined the suitability of an industry-specific security standard (B3S) with which hospitals can align their IT security measures. The B3S standard was developed by the German Hospital Association (DKG).

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has issued a notice letter reflecting its pragmatic approach to regulating initial coin offerings. In the absence of specific European and German laws, BaFin’s approach has led to uncertainties in how crypto-token offerings should be regulated. Legislative intervention by European and German lawmakers would be necessary to eliminate such...

A draft bill to prosecute undertakings for corporate crimes in Germany includes sanctions against undertakings, an incentive scheme for conducting internal investigations, and clarification on the attorney-client privilege.

The new German Act for the Protection of Trade Secrets (Gesetz zum Schutz vor Geschäftsgeheimnissen – GeschGehG, or the Trade Secrets Protection Act) which implements EU Directive 2016/943 on the Protection of Trade Secrets against Unlawful Acquisition, Use and Disclosure (the Trade Secrets Directive) into German law, came into force on 26 April. The new law provides for an expanded regulatory...

Germany’s EU Data Protection Adaptation and Implementation Act addresses issues left open by the General Data Protection Regulation and implements the EU Directive 2016/680 on Data Protection for the Prevention and Prosecution of Criminal Offenses into German law. The new legislation includes a completely new Federal Data Protection Act and provides for various changes to other laws in the...

Key changes triggered by the amendment relate to a company’s liability for cartel infringements, the introduction of a transaction value test into merger control, private enforcement through the implementation of the EU Cartel Damages Directive, the assessment of market power in multilateral markets, and the extension of the German Federal Cartel Office’s authority to consumer protection.

Guidelines indicate that violations of the German Securities Trading Act will be sanctioned more rigorously by the German federal financial supervisory authority in the future. Since July 2016, the German federal financial supervisory authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin)) can impose higher administrative fines for breaches of the German Securities Trading Act (We

Germany’s private placement rules for funds will change again. On 19 July, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its advice on applying the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) passport to non-EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) in 12 countries (including the United States). The European Commission

The reformed Renewable Energy Sources Act will create expanded market opportunities across the renewable energy sector and new investment opportunities in generation projects and smart grid operational technologies.

New European transparency requirements have been transformed into German law. On 27 November, Germany will implement the Amendment Directive to the Transparency Directive (2013/50/EU, the Amendment Directive). The amendment will particularly affect the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz, WpHG) and provide comprehensive amendments to the system of voting rights...

By changing its administrative practice, the BaFin allows loan origination and loan restructuring by investment funds in Germany. On 12 May, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) published changes to its administrative practice regarding the assessment of loan origination by investment funds. These changes were triggered by the current regulatory practice of the European

Current offers in the sign of confrontation - ..The two current offers, the mandatory offer to the shareholders of C.A.T. oil AG and the takeover offer for shares of Hawesko Holding AG, are unsolicited offers. Takeover offers for shares of GAGFAH S.A. and Petrotec AG have been announced, as well as an acquisition offer for shares of Württembergische Lebensversicherung AG. The mandatory...

Strategic investors extend current offers - Current offers include the takeover offers to the shareholders of DAB Bank AG, Sky Deutschland AG and Homag Group AG, as well as the acquisition offer for shares of Swarco Traffic Holding AG. An acquisition offer has been announced for shares of aleo solar Aktiengesellschaft. The takeover offers for shares of First Sensor AG, Deutsche Steinzeug...

Schuldschein loans, which offer straightforward documentation and easy transferability, are an interesting alternative financing instrument for borrowers and investors. Traditional German debt instruments called Schuldscheindarlehen (Schuldschein loans) are used as alternative forms of financing in the commercial sector and have been popular among institutional investors despite not...

Changes to the standard of review and key aspects of the merger review process make Germany's rules more consistent with those of the European Commission.