Following huge trading losses and the discovery of alleged fraud in a Singaporean subsidiary, O.W. Bunker & Trading A.S. filed for bankruptcy on 7 November 2014in the Danish court, just seven months after the company floated on the stock market.  Since then, a number of other O.W. Bunker Danish and overseas entities have also filed for bankruptcy.

To date, a debt waiver has been frequently used as a tool to successfully restructure German-based companies in financial difficulties.

We ended 2019 wondering whether Brexit would remain as allconsuming as it had been the previous three years. Cue the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope this newsletter finds you, your colleagues and your family in good health and adjusted to the new 'normal'. We look back at the first three months of 2020, unforgettable in more ways than one, and how current developments may impact our future.

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.

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.

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.

Deutsches Recht: Blick zurück 2016

Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht

Year in Review - German Law in 2016

Corporate and Commercial

Amendment to the Stock Corporation Act: The Amendment to the Stock Corporation Act 2016 (Aktien-rechtsnovelle 2016) introduced, among other things, the option to issue preference shares without subsequent payment, an extended conversion right for convertible bonds, a limitation of the issue of bearer shares for non-listed companies and new provisions on the due dates of dividend payments.