Germany: Corporate/Commercial Law

Die Anwendung der Zinsschranke bei Personengesellschaften wirft erhebliche systematische und praktische Fragen auf. Diese treten besonders deutlich bei Beteiligungen von inländischen Steuerpflichtigen an ausländischen Personengesellschaften hervor, wie sie typischerweise bei internationalen Private Equity Strukturen anzutreffen sind.

Shareholder loans serve as vital financing tools for German Mittelstand companies, but they can trigger insolvency obligations when financial difficulties arise. A qualified subordination (qualifizierter Rangrücktritt) offers a solution by converting these loans into liable capital, yet the Federal Court of Justice has established strict substantive requirements that must be met to achieve the desired legal and tax effects.

The European Commission has published draft revised merger guidelines that fundamentally reshape the EU merger control framework to address digital markets, innovation competition, and sustainability considerations.

The European Commission has published draft revised merger guidelines that fundamentally reshape the EU merger control framework to address digital markets, innovation competition, and sustainability considerations.

A major European credit institution's public takeover offer has triggered unprecedented regulatory intervention by Germany's BaFin, which issued a landmark order prohibiting sensationalist advertising on social media platforms.

On 1 April 2026, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin)...

Germany's foreign direct investment (FDI) regime has been expanded considerably in recent years, mirroring a global trend towards increased scrutiny of cross-border investments, and particularly...

On April 9, 2025, the German Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) finalized a coalition agreement after the snap elections in February.

Germanys Supreme Tax Court (BHF) recently published two decisions dealing with the income tax treatment of Management Equity Plans (MEP), in which the court confirmed its established case law.

Corporate transactions in Germany present complex tax considerations for buyers and sellers, with fundamentally different implications depending on whether the deal is structured as an asset or share transaction. Understanding how capital gains taxation, real estate transfer tax, and depreciation rules apply to each structure is essential for optimizing after-tax outcomes and managing inherited tax liabilities.

A crisis at the cash-pool leader does not automatically make cash pooling impermissible. It does, however, materially intensify the review, monitoring and documentation duties of managing directors at the level of each participating company. The key issues are recoverability of the repayment claim, practical access to pooled funds and protection of the company’s own minimum liquidity.

Die Anwendung der Zinsschranke bei Personengesellschaften wirft erhebliche systematische und praktische Fragen auf. Diese treten besonders deutlich bei Beteiligungen von inländischen Steuerpflichtigen an ausländischen Personengesellschaften hervor, wie sie typischerweise bei internationalen Private Equity Strukturen anzutreffen sind.