To date, a debt waiver has been frequently used as a tool to successfully restructure German based companies in financial difficulties. A decision of the German Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) published on February 8, 2017 currently limits such an option, given that it held that one of the main instruments used by tax authorities to grant relief from an otherwise taxable cancellation of debt income (CODI) in the form of the so-called Restructuring Decree (Sanierungserlass) violates fundamental constitutional rights.
Cancellation of debt a key element of most restructurings generally triggers taxable income. The German tax authorities had issued an administrative decree (the "Tax Restructuring Decree" - Sanierungserlass), however, declaring that, upon the satisfaction of certain requirements and conditioned on forfeiture of any loss carry forwards, the cancellation of debt income ("CODI") would not be taxed.
I am pleased to share a great article on the recent reform of German insolvency law regarding avoiding pre-insolvency transactions by my good friend and colleague Annerose Tashiro, a leading cross-border insolvency specialist in Germany. This is important in the event a contract counter-party becomes insolvent in Germany. Also, German avoidance laws are likely applicable should an insolvent German company also file a Chapter 15 proceeding in the U.S.
A recent judgment of the German Federal Fiscal Court (FFC) will have significant impact on the restructuring tool kit afforded under German law. The FFC has found that the existing practice of permitting a tax liability arising from restructuring gains to be deferred and (eventually) waived violates fundamental principles of German law. The ruling has created uncertainty regarding the proper tax treatment of restructuring gains, which may have the effect of diminishing the prospect of success of a restructuring for a company in financial distress.
Das Amtsgericht Cuxhaven hat Jan Antholz, Partner von SKW Schwarz Rechtsanwälte und Geschäftsführer der Schlutius Insolvenzverwaltung GmbH, Hamburg/Cuxhaven, am 6. März 2017 zum vorläufigen Insolvenzverwalter der ELB-LINK REEDEREI GmbH bestellt. ELB-LINK hat an diesem Tag einen Insolvenzantrag gestellt.
Summary
The German Federal Court has recently examined the treatment of shareholder loans and how these creditor claims are classified in the event of a company’s insolvency (decision by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) dated 13 October 2016 (file no. IX ZR 184/14)).
Background
Welche Folgen hat die Entscheidung für abgeschlossene Verfahren? Was bedeutet sie für die Zukunft?
Mit seinem Beschluss vom 28. November 2016 (veröffentlicht am 8. Februar 2017) hat der Große Senat des Bundesfinanzhofs („BFH“) den sogenannten „Sanierungserlass“ (BStBl. I 2003, 240; ergänzt durch BStBl. I 2010, 18) des Bundesfinanzministeriums („BMF“) verworfen. Dieser hatte bislang eine Steuerbefreiung von Sanierungsgewinnen über den Weg eines Billigkeitserlasses der Steuerzahlung nach §§ 163, 227 Abgabenordnung („AO“) ermöglicht.
On 16 December 2016 an act amending the insolvency laws applicable to financial derivatives transactions passed the Bundesrat (the second chamber of the German legislature). The new law was finalised only six months after the German Federal Court of Justice passed its landmark judgment that held a netting provision based on the German Master Agreement for Financial Derivatives Transactions to be partially ineffective in the event of insolvency.
Banking & Finance Banking & Finance Dezember / December 2016 4 | Editorial Fokus 6 | Verschärfung der Regulierung auf dem sog. Zweitmarkt – Anlageberatung und -vermittlung von Vermögensanlagen ab 2017 KWG-erlaubnispflichtig 8 | Anforderungen an ein schlüssiges Sanierungskonzept zur Verhinderung einer Insolvenzanfechtung aus Sicht der Gläubiger Aufsichtsrecht 10 | Zusätzliche Anforderungen an die Ausgestaltung einer Limitation Language aufgrund des Asset-Stripping-Verbots gemäß § 292 Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch (KAGB)?