Share Purchase Agreements (SPA) usually contain a – negotiated in detail, more or less extensive – catalog of guarantee declarations of the seller in connection with agreements on the legal consequences in the event of an incorrectness of a guarantee declaration. The statutory liability of the seller which generally exists in addition is usually excluded within the legally permissible framework. The decision of the German Federal Court of Justice [Bundesgerichtshof – BGH] of 26 September 2018 (file no. VII ZR 187/17) shows that it is important to focus in particular on the contractual exclusion of liability, especially its scope.

The managing directors of a limited liability company [Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung – GmbH] may in principle carry out an allocation of responsibilities and duties among each other. The Federal Court of Justice [BGH] recently substantiated in a judgment of 6 November 2018 (file no. II ZR 11/17) the requirements for an admissibility of such an allocation of responsibilities between several managing directors of a GmbH and the duties of a managing director associated with that. The decision was based on the liability of a managing director of a GmbH for payments after the company’s insolvency.

Finally, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) clarified the situation with its judgment of 19 December 2018 on the “group clause” relating to real estate transfer tax: the tax relief pursuant to section 6a German Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (RETTA) is not an illicit aid within the meaning of Art. 107 TFEU, since this tax relief is not associated with any selective advantages.