Germany

German state-controlled lender Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, or LBBW, will likely kick off the sale of its German residential property portfolio worth about EUR1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) this summer, a spokesman for the bank said, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The LBBW spokesman said the bank "is preparing the sale of LBBW Immobilien's residential real estate, as required by the EU." However, a final decision over the details of the sale "will likely take until the summer of 2011," considering legal aspects and the complexity of the issue involved, the LBBW spokesman said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday said she would seek to secure an agreement for Germany to spread its contributions to the euro zone's permanent bailout fund over five years instead of the three- to four-year timeline European Union leaders had been discussing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Germany had agreed, at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, to make €22 billion ($31.03 billion) in total contributions to a permanent bailout fund that would take effect in 2013, Mrs.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday said she would seek to secure an agreement for Germany to spread its contributions to the euro zone's permanent bailout fund over five years instead of the three- to four-year timeline European Union leaders had been discussing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Germany had agreed, at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, to make €22 billion ($31.03 billion) in total contributions to a permanent bailout fund that would take effect in 2013, Mrs.

Germany is bracing itself for the loss of 5 million workers over the next 15 years as it becomes Europe's first and biggest test of the problems caused by an ageing and declining population. Having used generous job subsidies to steer the labour market through the country's worst downturn since the 1930s, labour and social affairs minister Ralf Brauksiepe told the Guardian on Thursday that a longer working life and an influx of skilled workers from overseas were the answer to the demographic time bomb.

New data suggests Germany’s tough stance with Ireland may have its drawbacks — for German banks, the Real Time Brussels blog reported. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny clashed at a Brussels summit on Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over her demands to raise Ireland’s low 12.5% corporate tax rate. European diplomats say this showdown is unlikely to end with Germany just giving up. However, another battle could be brewing, which could lead to a different result. Ireland was back in Brussels Monday.

Prior to the financial meltdown, Germany’s ailing state-owned banks -- with government backing -- borrowed hundreds of billions of euros at favorable terms and invested the money in what they believed to be highly profitable securities. But after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, many of these investments proved to be toxic, Spiegel Online reported. The government had to rush to the banks' aid with billions in bailout funds, but the banks still have large numbers of the toxic securities on their books. All attempts to tackle the problem have failed.

Below you find the newsletter of the International Department of Schultze & Braun with information on current issues in German insolvency law as well as an article about discussion in the US and Germany regarding illegal real estate foreclosure. Dr H. Philipp Esser, LL.M. (Chicago) Attorney at law (Germany) Attorney at Law (New York State) Comfort Letter In a company crisis shareholders frequently grant enforceable comfort letters (in German: „hard“ comfort letters) for the benefit of a subsidiary and its creditors.

European officials meeting Friday are meant to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive fix to Europe's debt crisis. Bond investors already are betting against success, The Wall Street Journal reported. Two months ago, a resolution seemed within reach. The region's paymaster, Germany, would agree to beef up a rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, in size and in scope by permitting its use for government-bond purchases and credit lines. That would keep the debt crisis that engulfed Greece and Ireland last year from also forcing a bailout of Portugal and Spain.

German train drivers voted on Monday to go out on strike, a move which could bring the country's rail network to a standstill. Several other unions are likewise demanding higher wages this year -- a trend experts say is very worrisome given the delicate economic recovery, Spiegel Online reported. Economists in Germany are concerned that the rail strikes could merely be the tip of the labor conflict iceberg this year. After years of stagnating wages, the result of labor market reform followed by economic recession, workers in the country appear to be losing their patience.

German prosecutors expanded a probe of Porsche SE's former top managers to new allegations tied to the sports-car maker's failed attempt to take over Volkswagen AG, likely delaying the two companies' planned merger, The Wall Street Journal reported. Shares in Porsche closed down 11% on Thursday after the German car maker said there is now only a 50% chance that the merger agreement—struck after Porsche's effort to swallow VW nearly drove Porsche into bankruptcy—would be completed before 2012.