Monthly Dose of Germany

New Roads to Dispute Resolution: The global dispute resolution survey

Corporate disputes of all types have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether from tensions over employment, consumer rights or tax, businesses are facing growing volumes of litigation on multiple fronts. At the same time, disputes are becoming more complex, time consuming and expensive – yet the appetite to litigate is higher than ever.

To find out why, Deloitte Legal conducted a large survey on dispute resolution, attracting responses from 568 companies around the world, with annual revenues ranging from US$100 million to above US$3 billion. Our goal was to discover which disputes have escalated, how companies are responding, and what helps them reach a successful resolution.

Proposed EU-Regulation on Deforestation-free Supply Chains

New Due Diligence Obligations for the supply of agricultural commodities as well as products derived out of them

The European Parliament and the EU-Council have reached a preliminary political agreement on an EU-Regulation on Deforestation-free Supply Chains at the end of last year. According to this EU-Regulation, affected companies have to fulfil due diligence obligations when they place, make available or export certain agricultural commodities, such as palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber, as well as derived products, on or from the Union market. This could relate to numerous product categories, from chocolate to furniture. According to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), the EU-Regulation on Deforestation-free Supply Chains is expected to enter into force in mid-2023. We have outlined the most important new requirements of the proposed EU-Regulation in the ongoing EU legislative process.

Reminder: The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA)

Far-reaching new obligations for the management of affected companies
On 1 January 2023, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (SCDDA) came into force. Applicable to all sectors, the SCDDA requires German companies with more than 3,000 employees in Germany to prevent, or at least minimize, human rights and environmental rights infringements in their supply chains. Despite the aforementioned threshold, already in 2023 many small and medium-sized enterprises are de facto affected by the German SCDDA because they are (direct) suppliers and are therefore contractually required by their customers to comply with due diligence obligations. As of January 1, 2024, the threshold will be lowered and the obligations will also apply to German companies with more than 1000 employees in Germany. The German SCDDA entails far-reaching new obligations for the management of affected companies. A central requirement of the law is the performance of a risk analysis as a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of an appropriate and effective risk management system with the aim of identifying, preventing, ending, or at least minimizing, the extent of human rights and environmental risks and the violation of protected legal positions along their supply chains. Affected companies should verify their compliance status and companies that will be affected as of January 1, 2024 should take action now.

The legal basis for cross-border divisions and changes of legal form is coming soon!

The German Parliament (Bundestag) passes the law to implement the EU Mobility Directive (UmRUG) | read the full article in English here.

Further to the information provided our article, please note that on February 10, 2023, the UmRUG received green light from the German Bundesrat. On February 28, 2023, the law was then promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette. According to Article 25 UmRUG, which provides for entry into force on the day after promulgation, the Act will therefore enter into force on 01 March 2023.

A detailed explanation of the contents of this new law was given in our webcast from February 15, 2023 (German). A convenience English translation of the presentation used in the webcast can be found here.

In addition to the English and German language versions of the article on the new UmRUG, we also have published a Spanish language and a Dutch language version thereof:

Duitsland: De wettelijke basis voor grensoverschrijdende splitsingen en omzettingen komt eraan!

Duits parlement (Bundestag) neemt wet aan ter uitvoering van de EU-mobiliteitsrichtlijn (UmRUG)

"UmRUG" passeert bijna de eindstreep: Na een moeizaam wetgevingsproces heeft het Duitse parlement (Bundestag) op 20 januari 2023 (en dus kort voor het einde van de implementatieperiode die op 31 januari 2023 is afgelopen) het door de Duitse regering ingediende wetsontwerp van de UmRUG goedgekeurd. Voordien was het wetsontwerp gewijzigd door de bevoegde commissie voor juridische zaken (Rechtsausschuss).

Alemania: ¡La base jurídica para escisiones transfronterizas y transformaciones de forma jurídica se acerca!

El Parlamento alemán (Bundestag) aprueba la ley para aplicar la Directiva de movilidad de la UE (UMRUG)

La "UMRUG" casi pasa la línea de meta: Tras un laborioso proceso legislativo, el parlamento alemán (Bundestag) aprobó el proyecto de ley de la UMRUG presentado por el gobierno alemán el 20 de enero de 2023 (y, por tanto, poco antes de que finalizara el periodo de aplicación que expira el 31 de enero de 2023). Previamente, el proyecto de ley había sido enmendado por la Comisión de Asuntos Jurídicos competente (Rechtsausschuss).

Transaction News

We at Deloitte Legal Germany are constantly advising on numerous complex transactions and challenging projects.

We would be delighted to explain our services portfolio to you and discuss with you how we at Deloitte Legal Germany can assist you with your projects, whether in the field of Corporate Reorganizations, M&A transactions, including carve-outs, general commercial, employment law, IT/IP or LMC/LMS. Just reach out to us!

In order for you to better understand how we have helped other clients, we would like to hereinafter showcase information on two projects that our teams have recently advised on.

Deloitte advises capiton V on the sale of two leading German high-tech companies

A Berlin Deloitte Legal team led by Dr Julia Petersen advised capiton V GmbH & Co Beteiligungs KG on the sale of Raith GmbH and AEMtec GmbH and their subsidiaries to the newly established fund "capiton Quantum". The closing of the transaction took place on 27 January 2023.

Read more.

Deloitte Legal assists Main Capital Partners in building strong banking software group through acquisition of pdv and van den Berg

A Düsseldorf-based Deloitte Legal team led by Max Lüerßen and Felix Felleisen advised Main Capital Partners on its platform acquisition of pdv Financial Software GmbH and the subsequent acquisition of van den Berg GmbH and van den Berg Service AG.

Read more.

Deloitte Legal Webcast Series

In our German language Deloitte Legal Update webcast series, we address current legal issues and developments that are important for corporate practice.

In our upcoming "Legal Update" webcast in March 2023 we will discuss:

Remuneration of the works council and remuneration of the supervisory board – Update 2023 | Wednesday, 1 March 2023 | 11:00 - 11:45 a.m.

Register here (Webcast in German language)

You can download the presentations of our recent webcasts here:

• The UmRuG is here: More flexibility for cross-border corporate reorganizations - What options does the new law create? here (in English language)
• Employment law update: Selected rulings at the beginning of the year here (in English language)

In our Webcast Archive, you can find a list of previous webcasts and also download the corresponding presentations.

Should you be interested in topics discussed during one of our German language webcasts, do not hesitate to contact the respective presenters – they will be delighted to provide you with additional information in the English language.