A German court in Braunschweig, Germany, said on Friday it had halted criminal proceedings against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn for alleged market manipulation as part of the carmaker’s emissions scandal, Reuters reported. The court said that it had decided to discontinue the proceedings as the expected sentence in another case, in which Winterkorn faces charges for his role in allowing diesel cars with excessive pollution levels to hit the road, was higher.
Read more
Germany’s economy is limping into 2021 heavily bruised by the pandemic, deeply reliant on government aid -- and in better shape than most of the euro zone, Bloomberg News reported. The nation will probably say on Thursday that gross domestic product contracted less than 6% last year, and may signal that it actually grew in the final quarter. In contrast, economists estimate full-year declines of around 9% for France and Italy and more than 11% for Spain.
Read more
The local court of Aschaffenburg today approved the application of Adler Modemärkte AG and opened preliminary insolvency proceedings in self-administration pursuant to Section 270b (1), (2) of the German Insolvency Code, new version, according to a press release. Within the scope of the preliminary self-administration, the business operations of Adler Modemärkte AG shall be continued in their entirety and the company shall be restructured by means of an insolvency plan. The management board of the company will continue to have the power of administration and disposition.
The number of corporate bankruptcies in Germany experienced a “noticeable” increase compared with pre-pandemic levels at the end of last year, though not as bad as feared, Bloomberg News reported. It’s the first snapshot of the country’s regular insolvency trends following a temporary suspension of filing requirements as part of Germany’s pandemic support measures. In December, 921 partnerships and corporations in the country were reported as bankrupt, just under 30% higher than in the previous three months, according to a report by the IWH Halle Institute for Economic Research.
Just a week into the job, Commerzbank’s new chief executive on Friday made a 1.5 billion euro ($1.84 billion)goodwill write-off at the German bank and raised risk provisions relating to the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported. Shares in Germany’s second largest bank fell 3% after the announcement by new chief executive Manfred Knof, which was seen as an indication that Commerzbank will post a larger loss than analysts had been expecting.
Read more
Germany wants to extend beyond January a freeze on insolvency rules put in place to avoid a wave of corporate bankruptcies due to the coronavirus pandemic, Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht told the Handelsblatt newspaper, Reuters reported. Last March, the government offered respite to companies that find themselves in financial trouble due to the pandemic by allowing them to delay filing for bankruptcy until the end of September.
German retail sales rose in November and jobless numbers fell last month, against forecasts that both readings would worsen, suggesting that parts of Europe’s largest economy have weathered the impact of the coronavirus unexpectedly well, Reuters reported. Retail sales rose 1.9% in November, when markets had anticipated a contraction, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday, adding that it expected sales to have grown around 4% during 2020 as a whole - exceeding 2019’s 3.2% expansion.
Read more
In her last New Year’s address as chancellor, Angela Merkel called on Germans to remain disciplined in the fight against the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. The German leader -- who will step down after elections in September -- said that perseverance would be needed during a harsh winter as a vaccination campaign ramps up. Amid concerns about its safety, she said she would get the shot as soon as it’s her turn. Germany is struggling to contain the spread of Covid-19, like many of its neighbors.
An easyJet board member has resigned following scrutiny over her role at Wirecard, the collapsed German payments company. Anastassia Lauterbach quit on Monday as a non-executive director of the low-cost carrier with immediate effect after less than two years’ service, the Financial Times reported. Her exit came days after influential shareholder advisory group ISS questioned her place on the board, given that she had been a member of the supervisory board of Wirecard, the scandal-hit German company that filed for insolvency in June after revealing a multiyear frau
Germany has been accused of providing unfair state aid to Europe’s largest railway company Deutsche Bahn in a complaint to the EU Commission, the Financial Times reported. Transport provider FlixMobility has filed the complaint, saying Berlin has delayed a request to Brussels to allow a €5bn capital increase to Deutsche Bahn because of fears it will be rejected for breaking state aid rules.