Die produzierende Industrie in Deutschland wird derzeit durch massive Materialpreis- und Energiekostenerhöhungen aufgrund der mittelbaren Folgen der Corona-Pandemie, gestörten Lieferketten und dem Ukrainekrieg erheblich in Mitleidenschaft gezogen.

The manufacturing industry in Germany is currently being severely affected by massive increases in material prices and energy costs due to the indirect consequences of the Corona pandemic, disrupted supply chains and the Ukraine war.

Prior to the introduction of the Preventive Restructuring Framework by the StaRUG out-of-court restructurings in Germany other than the restructuring of German law-governed bonds generally required unanimous approval by all affected creditors. Existing in-court procedures were only available in case of insolvency, and entailed substantial court involvement.

The economic shock and disruption caused by the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2-Virus (COVID-19-pandemic) resulted in unprecedented circumstances for companies and prompted recent emergency rescue measures by the German legislator. In the following, we are highlighting two major legislative measures that will come into force in the next few days.

Legislative changes to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19-pandemic with respect to specific contract, corporate, insolvency and criminal law matters (the “COVInsAG”)

In its April 2018 decision, the BGH ruled on the question whether the directors of a company that has been granted debtor in possession status by the respective insolvency court can become personally liable for a breach of a duty of care vis-à-vis the creditors like an insolvency administrator. The underlying legal question was the subject of a controversial academic discussion in the past.