In May 2019, the Government Commission had already adopted a new version of the German Corporate Governance Codex (hereinafter “Codex 2019”). However, the Codex 2019 has not yet entered into force because the Government Commission initially wanted to wait for the ARUG II (Act Implementing the Second Shareholders’ Rights Directive [Gesetz zur Umsetzung der zweiten Aktionärsrechterichtlinie]) to enter into force. The Federal Parliament [Bundestag] and the Federal Council [Bundesrat] have now passed the ARUG II on 14th/19th November 2019. The act is expected to enter into force in January 2020, therefore the Codex 2019 is expected to enter into force soon. The set of rules with recommendations for the management of stock exchange-listed German companies has been fundamentally revised and contains a completely new structure and system. An overview of the most important innovations and changes.

Our last newsletter (edition 2019|Q3) had already addressed two Supreme Court decisions concerning the employment of an externally hired managing director of a limited liability company [Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung – GmbH]. This article supplements the thematic complex, because in its ruling of 20 August 2019 (case no. II ZR 121/16), the Federal Court of Justice [Bundesgerichtshof – BGH] decided what consequences would arise if an employment contract with a managing director of a GmbH was not effectively concluded.

Shares in corporations, except shares in non-member States, are granted tax concessions for inheritance and gift tax purposes if the testator or the donor directly held more than 25 % of the nominal capital of a company. The threshold of 25 % also applies to the question of whether so-called administrative assets are involved. Pool agreements make it possible to achieve the required quota. The German Federal Fiscal Court [BFH] clarified what needs to be considered in this respect.

Two current decisions are addressing the question, whether an (externally hired) managing director of a limited liability company can be regarded as employee. While being denied by the Federal Labor Court in its decision of 21 January 2019 (file no. 9 AZB 23/18), the Federal Court of Justice grants an externally hired managing director the status of an employee (decision of 26 March 2019, file no. II ZR 244/17). Nonetheless, the two decisions are not contradictory.

The German Trade Secrets Act has come into effect on April 26, 2019. It was intended as a facilitation of law enforcement in Europe, but now it leads to vast bureaucracy. Companies need to figure out technical and organizational measures to protect their own data. In this article, we will illuminate what this means for transactions and how to deal with the biggest “risk factor” – employees.