englischThe „Weltruf“-judgement of the Federal Court of Justice (file no. II ZR 11/17) has brought the internal division of responsibilities within a company body back into focus. But how and to what extent does the division of responsibilities within the management board modify the duties of [...]

englischIf board members violate a duty towards the company, they are faced with the question of the extent to which they must disclose the breach and thus expose themselves to civil or criminal law consequences. It is not only the fulfilment of statutory disclosure obligations that is problematic, [...]

englischWhat is the purpose of the stock corporation? Walther Rathenau's question about the legally standardized corporate objectives of the stock corporation has been a hot topic for over a century. In recent years, the discourse on the goal of sustainability has been influenced by the changing [...]

englischThe participation of the partners in the profits of a business partnership is particularly explosive: First of all, the self-financing interest of the company and the distribution interest of the partners are in conflict. In the distribution of profits among the partners, the latter then [...]

englischThe hundredth anniversary volume of the Heidelberg Series on Economic and European Law reflects with its title the proprium of the series and brings together contributions on internal market law before member state courts (Peter-Christian Müller-Graff), on new perspectives of a European [...]

englischThe MoMiG has considerably facilitated the granting of upstream loans and securities, which are widespread in group financing practice, with Sec. 30 I 2 Alt. 2 GmbHG and Sec. 57 I 3 Alt. 2 AktG. Subsequently, the BGH (BGHZ 179, 71 and BGHZ 214, 258) required the managers of the [...]

englischFor decades, the digitalisation of the general meeting has been a concern of science and practice. With the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic, the legislator was forced to act and immediately passed a temporary law that made it possible to hold virtual general meetings. However, this [...]

englischIf an investment fund with independent legal personality is managed by an external capital management company, the question arises as to which responsibilities and tasks are assumed by the external capital management company and the investment company respectively. This paper deals with this [...]

englischThe German GmbH goes digital – from 1 August 2022, it will be possible to incorporate a German GmbH/UG fully digital. The notary remains involved as a key player in the incorporation process. In his thesis, the author analyses the digital incorporation procedures in Germany and Austria and [...]

englischIn the event of a company demerger, there exists a regular need to not only allocate contracts in their entirety to another legal entity, but also to split them up and, for example, to transfer rental agreements solely with half of the rented business property.

The dissertation examines the [...]

englischCan corporations recover fines imposed on them by way of directors' and officers' liability? Can German law resort to the approaches of foreign legal systems in answering this question? This dissertation offers an in-depth legal comparison on the question with Austria, the United Kingdom and [...]

englischOn the occasion of the bi-national project of the SES, the author outlines a conceptual framework for a genuine supranational legal form, which is intended to facilitate SMEs' access to the European internal market.

In this context, the author analyzes the possible additional value of such a [...]

englischIn practice, there is widespread uncertainty about how the supervisory board must monitor the quality of the audit. In the legal literature, too, the topic has so far been dealt with only marginally. The dissertation first analyzes the regulatory framework that ensures audit quality, which [...]

englischThis book answers the question how to implement procedural contracts into the contractual structure of German investment funds. In practice, procedural contracts are primarily concluded where there is already a contractual relationship. The thesis thus analyzes the contractual relations [...]

englischNeither the existence of takeover price rules nor regulatory supervision effectively protect individuals from a control-induced exit from the company on inappropriate terms. The shareholders of the target company are dependent on legal protection under civil law in order to enforce their [...]

englischThis volume outlines an organisational form for research collaborations and thus aims to contribute to the development of enabling law in the scientific field. Since Corporate Governance is tailored to businesses rather than research activities, the author develops a Collaborative Research [...]

englischThis work offers a comprehensive appraisal of the intercorporate liability for damages of the executive board vis-à-vis the stock corporation for a corporate antitrust fine. Given the nature of the field, this topic is likewise highly controversial and relevant in practice. Subsequent [...]

englischSubject of this dissertation is the assessment of non-challenge clauses between a patent holder and a licensee as well as possible exceptions for free licences, obsolete technology and settlement agreements against the background of German and EU competition law. In addition, the author [...]

englischIn recent history, legislation, jurisprudence and case law increasingly tend to treat groups of companies not only as single economic entities but also as single entities in a legal sense. Therefore, the question of justification of limited shareholder liability in a group of companies is [...]

englischThe study examines the material scope of the shareholder´s voting prohibitions and compares sec 47 (4) GmbHG with the shareholder´s duty to abstain from voting in closed corporations in France, Great Britain, Austria and Spain. Following that, the author concentrates on the controversial [...]

englischCan the long-awaited Company Law Package fulfill the high expectations and the need for legal certainty for the cross-border conversion? The aim of this dissertation is to examine the Company Law Package in detail by analyzing European and German case law and taking into account the (still) [...]

englischIs the German Competition Act applicable to public authority economic action governed by public law? This work approaches the issue – due to greatly varying prices and § 185 (1) sentence 2 GWB – based on the abuse control of drinking water charges levied by a public law entity. It analyzes [...]

englischProxy Advisors are taking a more and more leading role in the daily common practice of Corporate Governance, providing shareholders with recommendations on how to vote in general meetings of listed companies. Not directly covered by law so far, the Second EU-Shareholders Directive of May [...]

englischThis work deals with one of the central questions with regard to the application of competition law to markets of the internet economy: To what extent can the prohibition of the abuse of market power according to Art. 102 TFEU be applied to innovative markets like the internet search engine [...]

englischThe Rozenblum doctrine is not an antiquated legal institution from the last century, but continues to be of great importance as a model at European and national level. This has led to a detailed examination of the original form and development of the institution. The aim of the work is to [...]

englischThe book analyses a commonly used line of argument, known as “infringement of shareholder rights”. Courts and legal literature try to derive specific, unwritten legal consequences from an infringement of shareholder rights, such as, for example, the material control of the general assembly’s [...]

englischEuropean state aid law regulates the lawfulness of aid given by EU Member States which favours certain undertakings, whereas procurement law, which is based on the fundamental freedoms of the Treaty of Rome, contains rules about public tendering. Due to the broad definition of state aid, [...]

englischThis volume is the first to monographically analyse questions of corporate and intellectual property law in the context of research institution cooperations de lege lata and de lege ferenda. Based on an analysis of frequently used sample, the author attempts to solve practical drafting [...]

englischThe audit committee of public interest entities performs a public function through its auditing of financial reporting, which can be broadly broken down into three facets: (i) its role of relieving the burden on the state by supplementing or replacing government supervision, (ii) its role as [...]

englischAs product differentiations, privileges on the internet (such as "zero rating" or "specialised services") are a result of the competitive market economy. However, in the discourse on net neutrality, in the sense of indiscriminate treatment of data, there are calls for regulation as the [...]

englischThe violation of accounting and reporting obligations may have extensive consequences for all stakeholders of a German stock corporation (AG). This book examines the unresolved legal question of the external civil law liability of such a corporation’s board members towards injured third [...]

englischIn his doctoral thesis, the author offers an answer to a much-discussed question: Is it possible to justify discriminatory measures of EU Member States by citing the so-called mandatory requirements relating to the public interest? The case law of the ECJ does not provide a consistent [...]

englischThis dissertation examines the legal structures of escrow investments and joint property investments. It compares the historical development of these fundamental forms of investment funds and presents their structural approximation as a result of the implementation of Germany’s capital [...]

englischThe recent EU reforms of the law concerning the annual auditing have given reason to examine the changes of the auditor’s role in corporate governance. By comparing German and English law, these changes become apparent. Starting from the beginnings of auditing, the author demonstrates how [...]

englischIn the past decades, the question of how European competition law should deal with the phenomenon of affiliated companies has not only considerably preoccupied corporations and their legal representatives, competition authorities and antitrust courts, but also and especially jurisprudence. [...]

englischOn 9th April 2014, the European Commission proposed a directive on single-member private limited liability companies (SUP-proposal). Since then, there have been vehement discussions on the question whether the German legislator should adopt a legislature on limited liability companies which [...]

englischThis book deals with the foundation of a transparent and comparable Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to overcome respective information deficits between corporations and stakeholders. First the foundations of CSR and its legal quality are analysed. Based on this the study concentrates [...]

englischA merger of two companies from different european member states is equally possible as a conversion from the legal form of a company in a member state to the legal form of another member state within the European Union. Such mobility of companies within the european union is ensured by the [...]

englischThe study puts research at publicly funded universities with or on behalf of undertakings into the context of the European state aid law. Following a thorough assessment of the requirements for the pricing of contract research in accordance with the state aid law the study shows the legal [...]

englischInitially, the work demonstrates the inefficiency and inconsistency of parts of the capital and asset protection in the GmbH. To develop solutions to this problem the work orients itself on Danish law. Afterwards, on the basis of a comparative analysis, different instruments of capital- and [...]

englischIs a corporation’s autonomy to adopt articles of association limited by the European Fundamental Freedoms? After several judgements of the European Court of Justice on golden shares there can be no doubt that articles may come into conflict with European Law. This is certainly true if the [...]

englischOne legal system in 24 equally binding languages: The thesis examines whether and to what extent the legal practice of the European Court of Justice complies with the principle of equal treatment of all language versions. This principle may still have been achievable in the early years of [...]

englischOut of the sparse rules of the SPE regulation draft this work develops a complete system which enables the SPE to be a group company. It can be turned towards the group interest. At the same time it provides mandatory protection for minority shareholders and creditors. Starting points for [...]

Sonderzahlungen an Vorstandsmitglieder (u.a. Incentives) werden seit der Finanzkrise mit Argwohn betrachtet. Sie sind aber zur Auflösung des Interessenkonflikts zwischen Aktionären und Vorstand unerlässlich. Der Verfasser arbeitet in der vorliegenden Abhandlung erstmals umfassend heraus, dass die [...]

Welche Folgen haben Vorabentscheidungen in zeitlicher Hinsicht: Gelten Richtersprüche ab dem Zeitpunkt der Urteilsverkündung oder wirken sie auf den Moment des Inkrafttretens der vom EuGH analysierten Norm zurück? Die Dissertation erörtert diese Fragestellung. Nach einer normtheoretischen Einordnung [...]

Eine an verschiedene Zwecke anpassbare, nationalitätsungebundene, gestaltungssichere und beratungseffiziente innere Ausgestaltung ist wesentlich für den Nutzen der Societas Privata Europaea (SPE).In einer detaillierten Betrachtung der Verordnungsentwürfe von Rat und Kommission analysiert der Autor [...]

EU-Mitgliedstaaten müssen ihr Gesellschaftsrecht binnenmarktkonform ausgestalten. Sie dürfen die grenzüberschreitende Mobilität von Gesellschaften nicht unverhältnismäßig beschränken. Der Autor zeigt auf, dass dies auch für Aktionärsschutzinstrumente wie die aktienrechtliche Anfechtungsklage gilt. [...]

Zur Reduzierung der im internationalen Vergleich exorbitant hohen Anzahl an Anmeldungen von Zusammenschlussvorhaben in Deutschland wurden die Aufgreifkriterien des § 35 GWB durch das Dritte Mittelstandsentlastungsgesetz vom 17. März 2009 um eine zweite Inlandsumsatzschwelle in Höhe von 5 Mio. Euro [...]

Sowohl das für die Europäische Aktiengesellschaft (SE) als auch das für die geplante Europäische Privatgesellschaft (SPE) geltende Recht besteht aus einem komplizierten Geflecht verschiedener Regelungsebenen: Die jeweils primär maßgebende EU-Verordnung verweist für nicht geregelte Rechtsfragen [...]