This book contains an English translation of the German Stock Corporation Law. The English and German texts are synoptically arranged. The introduction provides a concise overview of the main elements of the law and facilitates an understanding of the complex statutory provisions for the English-speaking reader. The main characteristics of both types of stock corporations in Germany, the AG and the KGaA, are described and explained. Several legal aspects of stock corporations, such as their formation and management, shareholders, minority rights, capital, integration, and mergers are covered in this book. The index is also arranged in bi-lingual form. This book reflects the prevailing state of legislation and will prove valuable to foreign lawyers and business people dealing with stock corporations.
This overview starts from the premise that corporate law across jurisdictions addresses the same three basic agency problems - the opportunism of: managers vis-a-vis shareholders; controlling shareholders vis-a-vis minority shareholders; and shareholdersvis-a-vis other corporate constituencies.
An analytical overview of the regulation of shareholder activism in the UK and Germany. The book shows how the comparative legal method can be used in the study of the corporate governance systems of different countries. It deals with the regulation of the governance of listed companies within a wide framework that recognises the importance of company law, securities markets law, standards and internal rule-making.
It is thirteen years since the appearance of the successful second edition of this convenient English-language introduction to the law of Germany. This new edition covers all the significant changes and innovations that have occurred during that period, encompassing the pervasive impacts of European Union law and of globalization, as well as the greatly increased activity of the German legislature in every area addressed in this volume. With fifteen lucid chapters written by academic experts in their respective fields of law, as well as detailed bibliographies, this is the ideal starting point for research whenever a question of German law must be answered. The authors clearly explain the legal concepts, customs, and rules arising from such basic elements as the following: – characteristic problems of German legal unity; – principles and practices of constitutional law; – administrative law and procedure; – the German Commercial Code; – formation and conduct of corporations and partnerships; – contracts; – tort liability; – property rights; – family law; – succession and inheritance; – labor and employment; – issues of private international law; – courts and civil procedure; – the penal code and criminal procedure. Introduction to German Law, Third Edition provides an authoritative description of all issues likely to emerge in the course of normal application of German law in any context.
Corporate governance encompasses the free enterprise system, which is treated comprehensively in this book from a German perspective. This distinguishes the book from other books written in English in this subject area, not only because of the comprehensive way it covers German corporate law and corporate governance, but also because of the fact that it provides international and European perspectives on these important topics. This second edition is an extensively revised and updated version of the first edition, in particular with a view to the worldwide debt crisis. The authors provide readers with an overview of the unique features of German business and enterprise law and an in-depth analysis of the organs of governance of German public limited companies (general meeting, management board, supervisory board). In addition, approaches for reforms required at the international level are also suggested and discussed, including, among others, the unique interplay and dynamics of the German two-tier board model with the system of codetermination, referring to the arrangement of employees sitting on the supervisory boards of German public limited companies and private companies employing more than 500 employees; also covered are significant recent legal developments in Europe. The book highlights the core function of valuation and financial reporting at the international, European and German levels, with accounting as the documentary proof of good corporate governance. It also expands the scope of the first edition by a treatment of the German financial sector, global corporate finance and governance, and by including a new chapter on compliance of corporate governance laws, rules and standards in Germany. As far as comparative law is concerned, new developments in the area of corporate governance in the EU, the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and corporate governance in the US, the UK and Australia are covered. The book is addressed to researchers, practitioners and basically anyone with an interest in the complex, but intriguing areas of corporate law and corporate governance.
Whether the corporate form is used to avoid liabilities or cover illegal acts, or whether abuse is practised to obtain certain advantages, the subject of this first-ever in-depth survey and analysis garners more attention every day – both in legal literature and in popular media. Taken together, the authoritative contributions in this book clearly and comprehensively reveal typical situations where abuse may take place and how company law and other areas of law have tackled these incidents and practices in a variety of key jurisdictions. Focusing on Europe but with global implications, the topics raised include the following: how group structures may be used by multinational enterprises to escape regulation and avoid taxation; whether the decision to incorporate a company in a particular jurisdiction may be abusive; companies set up for the purpose of money laundering; letterbox companies formed as a front to allow a company to benefit from one legal regime and avoid others; ex post transfers of seats such as cross-border mergers and conversions; when the use of phoenix companies may constitute an abuse of the corporate form; how corporate mobility is used to circumvent worker participation; and how online company formation and technological innovation may foster abuse. This book helps to explain how the line is drawn between abuse and (creative) use of the corporate form. Remedies covered include restricting the use of bearer shares, setting minimum capital requirements, piercing the corporate veil, ensuring transparency of beneficial ownership, using insolvency law to lodge claims against directors and shareholders and recover assets, and applying the general principle prohibiting abuse. There is no other book on the market focusing on abuse of companies and giving such a comprehensive analysis of the topic. Practitioners will get guidelines on how to avoid becoming involved in activities that may constitute abuse and how to address instances where abuse has occurred, and interested academics, legislators, and enforcement authorities in Europe and beyond will find this book’s perspectives invaluable.
This book is an in-depth, comparative study of the nature of civil and commercial law and of its development in the PRC. It focuses on the very complex interrelations and interactions between Party and state policies and measures, scholars' theoretical efforts and the development of civil and commercial law, especially the development of the institutions of legal personality and of property rights in the PRC. It also analyses the underlying influences of foreign legal systems and legal theories as well as the difficulties experienced by Chinese law makers and scholars in applying these theories. The book provides fresh insights into the role of law and the transformation of Chinese civil and commercial law, as now occurring in the PRC. The book is a valuable reference source for scholars who wish to explore the fascinating subject of the transformation of civil and commercial law in contemporary China.
Comprising the proceedings and working documents of an annual seminar held in Milan in November 2007, this book analyses the tax issues for groups of companies operating in a European or worldwide dimension. The book examines the issues raised by both tax treaty and European law by focusing on selected topics. It first provides an analysis of the group concept under company and commercial law followed by an overview of taxation of groups in common and civil law countries. The tax regime of groups of companies under European law is further considered, both for income tax and VAT. The issues raised by application of tax treaties to groups of companies is then considered, with a particular emphasis on treaty recognition of groups, application of tax treaties to companies included in national group consolidation regimes, and application of the treaty articles on business income and non-discrimination. Individual country surveys provide an in-depth analysis of the above issues from a national viewpoint in selected European and North American jurisdictions.
