Germany

German prosecutors said Monday that they had filed criminal charges against the former chief executive and the former management board of Hypo Real Estate, accusing them of misleading investors in 2008 during what proved to be the country’s most costly bank failure, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Georg Funke, the former chief executive of the Munich-based lender, and seven former management board members are accused of misleading investors about risks facing the bank ahead of its collapse in September 2008.

Infineon Technologies AG and its former memory chip unit Qimonda AG on Wednesday reached a partial out- of-court settlement over an insolvency dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the agreement, German semiconductor company Infineon will pay 260 million euros ($334 million) to the bankrupt unit. Infineon said it would pay a settlement of €135 million and acquire all patents of Qimonda for an additional €125 million. The partial settlement is covered by provisions already recognized and Infineon will pay from existing liquidity, it said.

Netzoptiker, the Limburg-based mail order glasses company backed by Rocket Internet and Omnes Capital, has filed for insolvency with the German Handelsregister. A filing at Handelsregister, Germany's version of Companies House, states that a provisional liquidator has been appointed. Rocket holds a 42% stake in the online store according to Handelsregister. News of the filing comes at a time when start-up accelerator Rocket Internet, itself backed by Investment AB Kinnevik, is preparing its imminent listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

PV group Solon has announced that two Germany-based units will file for insolvency, as its centre of gravity continues to shift away from Europe under parent company Microsol. Solon announced the start of insolvency proceedings in Berlin for its Solon Modules GmbH and Solon Energy GmbH subsidiaries, Recharge reported. The move came as the company appointed Rolando Gennari as its new European head, with a remit to reposition Solon “as a leading player on the continent”. UAE-based Microsol bought Solon – one of the pioneers of the German solar industry – in 2012 after the latter went bankrupt.

German property group IVG Immobilien has emerged from insolvency following a sweeping restructuring and a debt-for-equity swap and is now considering options for a merger or stock market listing, the company said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. A local German court declared the insolvency proceeding completed, the company said in a statement, after the co-owner of London's landmark "Gherkin" tower began proceedings in 2013. IVG later delisted its shares. "Following the complete financial and operating restructuring, the company is solid again and ready for the capital markets ...

The board of Germany's department store chain Karstadt is meeting to agree on a rescue plan for the loss-making retailer. About 17,000 employees are hoping the group's new owner will turn around their fortunes, Deutsche Welle reported. For the first time since taking over Karstadt Group in August, Austrian billionaire investor Rene Benko will chair a meeting of the chain's supervisory board. The main item on the meeting's agenda is purportedly a restructuring blueprint drafted by interim chief executive Miguel Müllenbach.

Parliament here began debating Germany's first balanced federal budget since 1969 on Tuesday, seven years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers sent Europe's largest economy into a tailspin, dashing the government's previous attempt at balancing its books, The Wall Street Journal reported. Yet concern is rising in Berlin that a budget partly meant as an example for more profligate members of the euro-zone could, once more, face last-minute derailment amid mounting geopolitical risks and mixed economic signals in Europe's powerhouse.

The Karstadt supervisory board announced Tuesday that it had postponed a meeting scheduled for August 21, where executives would have discussed plans for the floundering department store chain's restructuring, Deutsche Welle reported. Chairman Stephan Fanderl said the meeting had not been rescheduled because the board wanted to wait for a decision by German anti-trust regulators on the recent takeover of the 133-year-old retailer by Austria's Signa Group. "We are still determined to start restructuring Karstadt thoroughly and as soon as possible," Fanderl said.

In 2012, after years of discussion, Germany introduced new insolvency reforms. Bringing in more control for both debtors and creditors during insolvency proceedings, the reforms helped to improve the legal framework of corporate restructuring in Germany, Economia reported. Two years on, the dust has settled and there are two crucial areas where the benefits have become obvious: Creditors now have the ability to be heard by the courts and can even nominate the insolvency administrator, and debtors are also seeking help more quickly, before serious financial problems arise.

Government investigators in China have found the Mercedes-Benz unit of Daimler, the German automaker, in violation of antitrust price rules, the Chinese state news media reported on Monday. The announcement was the latest in a spate of inquiries over pricing and sales policies that have raised pressure on foreign corporations across China, the International New York Times reported.