{"id":3833,"date":"2018-12-20T10:00:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/honert.de\/quo-vadis-limited-consequences-of-brexit-on-limited-companies-with-administrative-headquarters-in-germany\/"},"modified":"2019-09-05T11:21:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T09:21:55","slug":"quo-vadis-limited-consequences-of-brexit-on-limited-companies-with-administrative-headquarters-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/quo-vadis-limited-consequences-of-brexit-on-limited-companies-with-administrative-headquarters-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"QUO VADIS, LIMITED? \u2013 CONSEQUENCES OF BREXIT ON LIMITED COMPANIES WITH ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS IN GERMANY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-fl0752-01dd4dc1cf057867b847d12ef6fc3fb3\">\n.avia-section.av-fl0752-01dd4dc1cf057867b847d12ef6fc3fb3{\nbackground-repeat:no-repeat;\nbackground-image:url(https:\/\/honert.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/3629.jpg);\nbackground-position:0% 0%;\nbackground-attachment:scroll;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_1'  class='avia-section av-fl0752-01dd4dc1cf057867b847d12ef6fc3fb3 main_color avia-section-default avia-no-shadow  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_section  avia-builder-el-first  hide_on_print avia-full-stretch avia-bg-style-scroll av-minimum-height av-minimum-height-40 av-height-40  container_wrap sidebar_right'  data-section-bg-repeat='stretch' data-av_minimum_height_pc='40' data-av_min_height_opt='40'><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-3833'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<\/div><\/div><\/main><!-- close content main element --><\/div><\/div><div id='av_section_2'  class='avia-section av-e7pi92-5a9b18b60d389d676fbf32b68e1bb906 main_color avia-section-default avia-no-shadow  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_section  avia-builder-el-last  avia-bg-style-scroll container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-3833'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-cip06e-861affd83aab14e49a4d6960ab8f9cbb\">\n.flex_column.av-cip06e-861affd83aab14e49a4d6960ab8f9cbb{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-cip06e-861affd83aab14e49a4d6960ab8f9cbb av_two_third  avia-builder-el-2  el_before_av_two_third  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  '     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_heading-1a518fe1ee5273db5dadf767fdaf9e18\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-av_heading-1a518fe1ee5273db5dadf767fdaf9e18{\npadding-bottom:10px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-av_heading-1a518fe1ee5273db5dadf767fdaf9e18 .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-av_heading-1a518fe1ee5273db5dadf767fdaf9e18 .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-av_heading-1a518fe1ee5273db5dadf767fdaf9e18 av-special-heading-h1 blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-3  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><div class='av-subheading av-subheading_above'>20. December 2018\n<\/div><h1 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >QUO VADIS, LIMITED? \u2013 CONSEQUENCES OF BREXIT ON LIMITED COMPANIES WITH ADMINISTRATIVE HEADQUARTERS IN GERMANY<\/h1><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-bconqe-9a5820d3826cdff653f325615bc67c8a\">\n.flex_column.av-bconqe-9a5820d3826cdff653f325615bc67c8a{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-bconqe-9a5820d3826cdff653f325615bc67c8a av_two_third  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_two_third  el_before_av_two_third  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  column-top-margin'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-k06gvip8-60b683142640cffc6bdc50f163315ed1 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>On 29 March 2019 the United Kingdom\u2019s membership in the EU will expire. As a result, companies under the legal form of a Ltd. with administrative headquarters in Germany will lose their freedom of establishment and will no longer be recognized as legal entity in Germany. This could, however, be subject to a transition period according to the new \u201cEU withdrawal agreement\u201d. The German Federal Government as well as the German Federal Ministry of Finance respond to this by proposing two new laws which are supposed to ease the transition into a new legal form for affected Ltd.s\u00b4.<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-8we2py-4e6b5238cfc49ee4847e1c83c649a020\">\n.flex_column.av-8we2py-4e6b5238cfc49ee4847e1c83c649a020{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-8we2py-4e6b5238cfc49ee4847e1c83c649a020 av_two_third  avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_two_third  el_before_av_one_third  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  column-top-margin'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-k06h0go1-a7288805e759623bbc3f94a75c4a911c '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h2>I. Brexit and limited companies: Consequences under corporate law<\/h2>\n<p>Brexit is imminent and a \u201chard Brexit\u201d without any transitional system can currently not be excluded. This has far-reaching consequences for British Ltd.s which have their administrative headquarters in Germany (cf. the article in our 2018 | Q1 newsletter).<br \/>\nDue to the \u201cfreedom of establishment\u201d applicable in the EU, the \u201cheadquarters theory\u201d applicable in Germany, which determines the applicable corporate law according to the law of the administrative seat, is replaced by the so-called formation theory. This made it previously possible to establish a corporation under English law with its headquarters in Germany. With the entry into force of Brexit, subject to other negotiation results, such as the UK&#8217;s joining the EEA or for the duration of the &#8220;EU withdrawal agreement&#8221; recently adopted by the EU, these companies will in future again be treated according to the headquarters theory. The consequence will be that such Ltd.s will be treated in Germany as a German partnership or as a sole trader without any limitation of liability if they are (only) active in Germany and have no business activities in Great Britain.<\/p>\n<h2>II. Planned legislative amendments<\/h2>\n<p>In order to avoid these consequences, a transition of affected British Ltd.s into a legal form having a limitation of liability is necessary. Two current German legislative proposals are supposed to ease this process: The draft bill of the Federal Government to amend the Transformation Act (UmwG) of 10 October 2018 and the draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) on the Brexit Tax Accompanying Act of 9 October 2018.<\/p>\n<h5>1. Draft bill to amend the Transformation Act<\/h5>\n<p>The UmwG is to be amended in \u00a7\u00a7 122 et seq. Two important amendments are planned: A cross-border merger of Ltd.s into commercial partnerships should be possible. This enables the Ltd.s to convert into a German limited partnership (KG), for example, in which either a GmbH or an entrepreneurial company (with limited liability) can participate as a personally liable shareholder (\u201cGmbH &#038; Co. KG\u201d or \u201cUG &#038; Co. KG\u201d).<br \/>\nFurther, the new \u00a7 122m UmwG contains a temporary provision for all cross-border mergers in which a company under British law is involved as the transferring legal entity and a company under German law is involved as the acquiring legal entity. The merger shall be possible also after the date of the Brexit under two conditions: Firstly, the merger plan must have been notarised before Brexit came into effect and secondly, the merger must be filed for entry in the commercial register immediately, but no later than two years after that date of the Brexit.<\/p>\n<h5>2. Draft of the Brexit Tax Accompanying Act<\/h5>\n<p>The BMF draft contains an amendment to \u00a7 22 of the Transformation Tax Act (UmwStG), which is intended to prevent Brexit from a retroactive taxation of the transfer profit following previous transfers pursuant to \u00a7 22 paras. 1 and 2 UmwStG (contribution in kind or exchange of shares below the fair market value).<br \/>\nIn addition, \u00a7 4g of the Income Tax Act (EStG) is to be amended: Due to the future qualification of Great Britain as a third country, any adjustment items created under the current legal situation for economic assets which were previously allocated to a permanent establishment of a taxpayer in the United Kingdom would have to be dissolved immediately and in full (\u00a7 4g para. 2 sentence 2 no. 2 EStG). This is to be prevented by the new \u00a7 4g para. 6 EStG, which stipulates that the withdrawal of the United Kingdom only does not trigger this legal consequence.<br \/>\nAccording to the opinion of the BMF, however, there is no need to amend the deferral rules in \u00a7 6 of the Foreign Tax Act (AStG): According to \u00a7 6 para. 5 AStG, a deferment of tax-payment may only be revoked if the relevant shares are transferred to a person resident in a third country or if the taxpayer transfers his residence to a third country. Brexit alone shall  therefore not qualify as a &#8216;harmful event&#8217;, but a further act of the taxpayer (such as the free transfer of shares to a person resident in the United Kingdom or the relocation of the taxpayer from the United Kingdom to a non-EEA country) will trigger the subsequent taxation in Germany.<br \/>\nThe BMF draft contains no statements in regards to the effects of Brexit concerning the regulation of wage bills according to \u00a7 13a para. 3 sentence 11 German Inheritance Tax Law (ErbStG). However, this would have been desirable since the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU and EWR might lead to negative legal consequences regarding the determination of the yearly wage bills, which are to be sustained in order to gain the benefits under inheritance tax law and donation tax law, during the five-year or seven-year observation period.<\/p>\n<h2>III. Options for action<\/h2>\n<p>Against the background of these changes, the following options arise for shareholders of a Ltd. with administrative headquarters in Germany:<\/p>\n<h5>1. Cross-border merger into a German GmbH<\/h5>\n<p>Cross-border mergers are governed by \u00a7\u00a7 122a et seq. UmwG, which implement the International Merger Directive. A Ltd. has until now qualified as a company capable of being merged within the meaning of the Directive; all German forms of capital companies can be considered as the target legal form.<br \/>\nHowever, the merger process is relatively complex and time-consuming: In addition to the preparation of a merger report and the drafting of the merger resolution by the GmbH, the application for a merger certificate at the competent High Court of Justice is also required (so-called pre-merger certificate). In the case of a \u201chard Brexit\u201d, it is unlikely that this procedure can be completed in time. The planned amendment in \u00a7 122m UmwG takes this into account, since it will, as explained above, still permit the merger even if the merger process was initiated before Brexit by a notarial merger plan, even if the application for entry in the commercial register is not filed before Brexit.<br \/>\nThe advantage of the merger is that all assets and liabilities are transferred to the GmbH by universal succession without the consent of the parties and creditors. The taxable realization of hidden reserves can also be avoided under the conditions of \u00a7 11 para. 2 and \u00a7 13 para. 2 UmwStG.<br \/>\nThe biggest disadvantage in practice, however, apart from the very complicated procedure as such, is the substantial costs incurred thereby. In addition to the notarial costs and the registry costs, substantial attorneys&#8217; fees are incurred, in particular for the hearing before the High Court of Justice, regarding the required representation by a British attorney who is admitted before the High Court.<\/p>\n<h5>2. Cross-border merger into a commercial partnership<\/h5>\n<p>Following the planned amendment of \u00a7\u00a7 122a et seq. UmwG, commercial partnerships may in future also be involved as acquiring legal entities in a cross-border merger, whereby a merger into a general partnership (OHG) or a limited partnership (KG) could also be considered. In the case of a merger of a limited company into a KG, for example, the company would not have to meet the threshold of minimum capital requirements, if the personally liable shareholder of the KG were an entrepreneurial company (with limited liability). In addition, a tax-neutral book value continuation in Germany in accordance with \u00a7\u00a7 3 et seq. UmwStG is in general possible.<br \/>\nHowever, there is great uncertainty as to the exact procedure to be followed: The merger of a corporation into a commercial partnership is not covered by the scope of the Merger Directive. According to the system of \u00a7\u00a7 122a et seq. UmwG, however, a merger certificate of the British Companies House would also be required for this process. However, since there are no corresponding procedural rules on the British side, the process could already fail due to resistance from the Companies House. Moreover, this procedure would also involve the same amount of time and expenses as the merger into a corporation.<\/p>\n<h5>3. Cross-border change of legal form<\/h5>\n<p>A cross-border transformation of the Ltd. into a GmbH or a UG (with limited liability) could also be considered. In several decisions, the European Court of Justice has declared the cross-border change of legal form within the European internal market to be permissible. So far, however, there is a lack of standardized European and national procedural rules.<br \/>\nFor this reason, the British Companies House, which has so far refused to recognize the cross-border change of form, is currently encountering opposition in practice. On 25 April 2018, the EU Commission presented the draft of the so-called Company Law Package, which, inter alia, provides for the creation of a standardized legal framework for cross-border changes of legal form. However, it cannot be assumed that these new rules will enter into force in reasonable time before Brexit.<\/p>\n<h5>4. Contribution in kind and exchange of shares<\/h5>\n<p>Finally, the transfer of the Ltd.s\u00b4  operations (contribution in kind) or the transfer of the Ltd.s\u00b4shares (exchange of shares) to a German corporation in exchange for new shares could also be considered. However, such transactions are subject to a blocking period pursuant to \u00a7 22 UmwStG and as a result of Brexit there is a risk of a retroactive taxation of the so-called transfer profit. The reason for this is that it has not yet been decided yet, how Ltd.s with their administrative headquarters in Germany are to be treated taxwise.<br \/>\nAccording to one opinion, the same principles apply as from a civil law point of view. As a result of Brexit, the reason for the previous legal recognition of a Ltd. in Germany would cease to apply, with the result that a change in the taxation regime would occur and the company would, in future, be treated for tax purposes as a partnership or as a sole proprietorship. The legal existence of a Ltd. as a corporation would thus cease, and, as a result the capital gain would have to be taxed retroactively in accordance with \u00a7 22 para. 1 sentence 1 UmwStG in the event of the transfer of the business or in accordance with \u00a7 22 para. 2 sentence 6 in conjunction with para. 1 no. 3 UmwStG in the event of the exchange of shares. Such taxation would, however, not be prevented by the new \u00a7 22 para. 8 UmwStG either, since the triggering event for the subsequent taxation would not be Brexit itself.<br \/>\nAccording to another opinion, the tax treatment of a Ltd. differs from the civil law treatment. According to this opinion the principles of the so-called type comparison apply, which stipulates that companies not formed under European law but according to their articles of incorporation, are equivalent to a corporation must also be treated as corporations in Germany. Accordingly, a Ltd. would continue to be subject to unlimited taxation in the same way as a corporation and its \u201ctax shielding effect\u201d would continue to exist. For transactions that were already legally effective prior to Brexit, the blocking period of \u00a7 22 UmwStG would therefore not be interrupted due to the planned amendment of the Transformation Tax Act and there would be no retroactive taxation of the transfer profit. However, this only applies as long as the company continues to exist in the UK. If the Ltd. will be deleted from the British Commercial Register, for example due to non-compliance with the obligations incumbent on the shareholders with regard to publicity and payment of fees to the UK Commercial Register, the company would also be dissolved and wound up in Germany, resulting in retroactive taxation of the so-called contribution profit.<\/p>\n<h2>IV. Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>The efforts on the German side to enable British Ltd.s to make an orderly transition to a German legal form in view of Brexit are encouraging. For Ltd.s with administrative headquarters in Germany, however, the new statutory regulations are only partially effective. In particular, procedural uncertainties remain with regard to the cross-border merger into a German commercial partnership and the cross-border transformation of legal form. It also remains to be seen how the British Companies House will react to these events in the future. In the case of transfer of assets by way of contribution in kind or exchange of shares, it is currently not foreseeable whether a retroactive taxation of the contribution profit can be prevented due to the ambiguities in the tax classification of Ltd.s after Brexit. In practice, only the cross-border merger of a Ltd. into a GmbH or an UG (limited liability) is, therefore, a tax-neutral solution. However, this entails an expenditure of time and money that should not be underestimated.<br \/>\nIt remains to be seen what the outcome of further negotiations at EU level will bring. For example, the withdrawal agreement approved on 25 November 2018 by the heads of state and government of the EU member states provides for a transitional phase until the end of 2020 (renewable once until the end of 2022), during which EU law continues to apply to cross-border situations between the UK and the EU states. The consequences under company law for Ltd.s described above would then only occur after expiry of this period and subject to any further interstate agreements. Due to the political uncertainties that are associated to the withdrawal agreement for the UK, however, it cannot be foreseen whether the British Parliament will approve this agreement or whether a &#8220;no deal&#8221; scenario with all the consequences involved will take place in March.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-6w4p12-9c73fa792a2749948c2c140212b23c04\">\n.flex_column.av-6w4p12-9c73fa792a2749948c2c140212b23c04{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:7px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-6w4p12-9c73fa792a2749948c2c140212b23c04 av_one_third  avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_two_third  avia-builder-el-last  sy-only-desktop hide_on_print flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><p><div  class='avia-builder-widget-area clearfix  avia-builder-el-9  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first '><section id=\"categories-3\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_categories\"><h3 class=\"widgettitle\">Newsletter issues<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-272\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2026-q1\/\">2026 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-267\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2025-q4-en\/\">2025 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-265\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2025-q3-en\/\">2025 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-263\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2025-q2-en\/\">2025 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-261\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2025-q1-en\/\">2025 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-254\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2024-q4-en\/\">2024 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-250\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2024-q3-en\/\">2024 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-242\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2024-q2-en\/\">2024 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-238\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2024-q1-en\/\">2024 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-227\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2023-q4-en\/\">2023 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-208\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2023-q2-en\/\">2023 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-206\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2023-q1-en\/\">2023 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-193\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2022-q4-en\/\">2022 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-184\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2022-q3-en\/\">2022 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-182\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2022-q2-en\/\">2022 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-177\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2022-q1-en\/\">2022 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-175\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2021-q4-en\/\">2021 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-173\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2021-q3-en\/\">2021 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-171\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2021-q2-en\/\">2021 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-169\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2021-q1-en\/\">2021 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-167\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2020-q4-en\/\">2020 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-162\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2020-q3-en\/\">2020 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-160\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2020-q2-en\/\">2020 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-158\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2020-q1-en\/\">2020 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-156\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2019-q4-en\/\">2019 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-150\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2019-q3-en\/\">2019 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-138\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2019-q2-en\/\">2019 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-140\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2019-q1-en\/\">2019 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-144\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2018-q4-en\/\">2018 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-146\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2018-q3-en\/\">2018 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-136\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2018-q2-en\/\">2018 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-128\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2018-q1-en\/\">2018 Q1<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-126\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2017-q4-en\/\">2017 Q4<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-116\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2017-q3-en\/\">2017 Q3<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-114\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/2017-q2-en\/\">2017 Q2<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-142\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/deals-en\/\">Deal Announcements<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-58\"><a href=\"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/category\/uncategorized\/\">Uncategorized<\/a>\n<\/li>\n\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\t<span class=\"seperator extralight-border\"><\/span><\/section><\/div><br \/>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-k06h229s-ed37f93b1c7d08eb4be337dac7355165 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h2>More information on this topic<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"sy-list-margin\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/9zh.f5b.myftpupload.com\/en\/taetigkeitsgebiete\/corporate-law\/\">Corporate Law<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/9zh.f5b.myftpupload.com\/en\/taetigkeitsgebiete\/steuerberatung-und-steuerverfahren\/\">Tax Advice and Tax Proceedings<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/9zh.f5b.myftpupload.com\/en\/taetigkeitsgebiete\/reorganization-tax\/\">Reorganization Tax<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-4ufnrq-dc1692df541e10fffdd15c7fc98d303f\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-4ufnrq-dc1692df541e10fffdd15c7fc98d303f{\nheight:8px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-4ufnrq-dc1692df541e10fffdd15c7fc98d303f hr-invisible  avia-builder-el-11  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock '><span class='hr-inner '><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-29jlyu-1bb384da5004d37046482c113f0d5fd6 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock hide_on_print'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h2>Downloads<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"#\" onclick=\"window.print();return false\">Print<\/a><br \/>\n\n\n\n\t<div class=\"dkpdf-button-container\" style=\" text-align:left \">\n\n\t\t<a class=\"dkpdf-button\" href=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3833?pdf=3833\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"dkpdf-button-icon\"><i class=\"fa fa-file-pdf-o\"><\/i><\/span> Download (PDF)<\/a>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='after_section_2'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-3833'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On 29 March 2019 the United Kingdom\u2019s membership in the EU will expire. As a result, companies under the legal form of a Ltd. with administrative headquarters in Germany will lose their freedom of establishment and will no longer be recognized as legal entity in Germany. This could, however, be subject to a transition period according to the new \u201cEU withdrawal agreement\u201d. The German Federal Government as well as the German Federal Ministry of Finance respond to this by proposing two new laws which are supposed to ease the transition into a new legal form for affected Ltd.s\u00b4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2018-q4-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3833"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3839,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3833\/revisions\/3839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/honert.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}