Loan waiver in crisis situations

The loss incurred as a result of a loan waiver to a corporation can be taken into account at shareholder level. A distinction must be made here between the recoverable and the non-recoverable portion of the loan, as only the latter can be recognized as a loss. If the waiver is made under a debtor […]

The introduction of Commercial Courts in Germany

The “Act to Strengthen Germany as a Location for Justice by Introducing Commercial Courts and English as the Language of the Courts in Civil Jurisdiction” (Justice Location Strengthening Act) came into force on 1 April 2025 and aims to increase Germany’s attractiveness as a location for international business and commercial disputes.

The (pre-)registration obligations of a civil law partnership (GbR) under the MoPeG

The Act on the Modernization of Partnership Law (MoPeG) came into force on 1 January 2024, codifying the legal capacity of the GbR. In this process the so-called company register for the GbR was also introduced, comparable to the commercial register for partnerships and corporations. Registration of the GbR in the company register is generally […]

Vesting clauses in employee participation programs put to the test

In March 2025, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) made two groundbreaking decisions that changed the legal situation for virtual option rights in employee stock option plans. Firstly, it declared certain forfeiture clauses for so-called vested virtual option rights to be invalid in the event of self-termination (BAG, judgment of 19 March 2025 – 10 AZR […]