This article continues our Law-Now series "Harmonisation of Insolvency Laws in the EU" in which we provide an overview of the articles addressing insolvency avoidance actions of the draft EU directive.

As explained in the first part of the series, the differing national insolvency regulations of the 27 EU member states creates risks for investors, who will have to consider their investments in light of possible business failures and the resulting exposure to monetary losses.

The Covid-19 crisis is impacting on all businesses across Germany including the dynamic German start-up scene. In this article we outline some of the more important measures taken by the German government to support start-ups through the crisis. These measures include providing immediate financial support, loan finance, subsidies for short-time work schemes, relaxation of management obligations to file for insolvency, tax relief schemes and the suspension of social security payment obligations.