GLG News by Securities, Corporate Governance, and M&A Experts: Lawyers (EU, Africa)

Volkswagen’s two major shareholders – Porsche and the State of Lower Saxony - are on course for a showdown at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) to be held on 24 April 2008. Porsche’s fight with Lower Saxony stems from the so-called “VW law,” parts of which were struck down last year...

More than USD 42 billion was invested by foreign government investors in Germany in 2007 and more than 2.2 million German employees work for companies owned by non-resident government and private funds. In regard to foreign investment funds, a German draft bill would allow the German government to prohibit...

The Porsche AG founded a new corporate entity in the legal form of a Societas Europaea (SE), the Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which got registered in November. According to Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking the registration of the Porsche Automobil Holding SE was a prerequisite for Porsche to enhance...

Leo Kirch, whose media group collapsed in 2002 in Germany’s then largest bankruptcy, has made a surprising comeback. The media entrepreneur bought the rights to German league soccer on October 9, thereby guaranteeing higher revenues for the league’s various clubs. The deal with Kirch was reportedly...

The Transrapid railway system is an ambitious business project with high potential. Unfortunately the German developers were not able to see their modern train run in Germany or Europe as the concept was exported to China and the first track was build to link Shanghai with its airport. Now the high...

The Siemens group is currently manoeuvring in troubled waters as the bribery scandal finally starts to enter the courtrooms in Germany and abroad. But the payment charges against Siemens are not limited to fines for the punishable misconduct or neglect. The figures for levies on illegally made profits...

Seven German sports betting cases are now pending before the ECJ (one from Cologne, three each from Stuttgart and Giessen). The German courts asked the ECJ whether a national monopoly can be upheld under EU law, if there is no coherent and systematic policy. 

This article discusses a remarkable judgment by the highest German tax court. With its decision from February 7, 2007, the Supreme Tax Court contradicted the tax authority’s long standing approach and stated that the regulation contained in section R 63(3) of the Corporate Tax Guidelines (Körperschaftsteuerrichtlinien;...

The heading of this article is phrased as if there where no deduction of interest payments on loans used to finance the acquisition of shares possible under German jurisdiction. But that is not the full story. As it is often the case when it comes to German tax law, things appear to be tricky. That...

Legal professional privilege in the European Union protects communications with outside lawyers but not with in-house counsel. A new decision by the European Court of First Instance alters and elaborates these rules in ways important to any company doing business in Europe.