Overview
In November 2015, the German legislator passed the Resolution Mechanism Act (Abwicklungsmechanismusgesetz, AbwMechG). The law introduces, among other things, Section 46f (5) et seqq. of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz, KWG), which requires that claims under certain unsecured debt instruments be subordinated to general senior unsecured obligations in an insolvency proceeding involving a German bank.
Banking & Finance Aktuelle Informationen des Geschäftsbereichs Banking & Finance News from the Banking & Finance practice Juli/July 2015 4 | Editorial Fokus 6 | BaFin erlaubt regulierten Fonds die direkte Kreditvergabe 8 | Immer wieder Restrukturierung von Anleihen 10 | Zur Verwertung von mit fremden Marken gekennzeichnetem Sicherungsgut durch den Sicherungsnehmer und der Bedeutung des markenrechtlichen Erschöpfungsgrundsatzes, §24 Abs.
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With a recent draft act to amend the German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung – InsO), the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection intends to reduce uncertainty regarding insolvency claw-back, in particular regarding Sec. 133 InsO. The result may be that restructuring opinions that are now market standard when (re)financing financially troubled companies in Germany become redundant.
Current legal status
Banking & Finance
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A. Bill of the “Law on shielding credit institutions and financial groups against risks and planning their restructuring and winding-up”
The Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) pronounced on double securities in its eagerly anticipated judgment of 1 December 2011 (IX ZR 11/11). The practice was controversial even before the Act for the Modernisation of Limited Liability Company Law and for the Prevention of Abuse (Gesetz zur Modernisierung des GmbH-Rechts und zur Bekämpfung von Missbräuchen, MoMiG) came into force. “Double security” arises where security is provided over a creditor‘s claim both by the company itself and by its shareholders.
On 27 October 2011, the German parliament adopted the Law for Further Facilitation of the Restructuring of Businesses (Gesetz zur Erleichterung der Sanierung von Unternehmen, ESUG), which entered into force on 1 March 2012. In particular, legislators have increased the importance of debtequity swaps as part of this reform. Significant practical obstacles that previously often caused debt-equity transactions to fail have now been removed.
Previous legal framework
In four judgments of 26 June 2012, case refs.: XI ZR 259 / 11, XI ZR 316 / 11, XI ZR 355 / 10 and XI ZR 356 / 10, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has again stated its position on the question of when there is a duty to disclose commission. In all four cases the investors purchased certificates from the same defendant bank to invest different amounts and these certificates turned out to be largely worthless following the insolvency of the issuer (Lehman Brothers Treasury Co. B.V.) and the guarantor (Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.) in September 2008.
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof - BGH) in its decision of 17 February 2011 (IX ZR 131/10) has been dealing with the issue which – since the Act to Modernise the Law Governing Private Limited Companies and to Combat Abuses (Gesetz zur Modernisierung des GmbH-Rechts und zur Bekämpfung von Missbrauchen - MoMiG) came into effect – is being controversially discussed as to whether loans by family members (in particular the shareholder’s siblings, spouse and children) in insolvency proceedings will be given subordinate ranking.