German Ministry of Finance on § 55 (4) InsO

While the legislator (reasonably) refrained from reintroducing the so-called “fiscal privilege” in the law of insolvency avoidance (here), after having abolished such privileges with the introduction of the InsO in 1999, he at least partially “re-instated” such a privilege by classifying certain tax claims as so-called “claims of the estate”. In the context of the … more

KYC – The test of loyalty

After I had already examined the so-called “Know Your Customer, KYC” – audit some time ago at least roughly from the point of view of receivables management (here), it is necessary to take another look at this area at the interface between risk management and compliance in view of the coming German Supply Chain Compliance … more

The German economy in April 2022 – slow recognition

In April 2022 the war in Ukraine (for regular updates, cf. here, in German) was also dominating the economic headlines in Germany, while Corona slowly faded from the front pages. After the reality of the war and other factors hindering a swift ecomic upturn had seemingly set in with the German economy in March 2022 (here), the question is how it fared in April. So, let’s take a closer look:

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Financing in the Crisis: “Bumpers” and “Protective Shields” instead of “Bazooka”

No sooner had the (economic) waves calmed down at least a little after the Corona pandemic than Russian troops marched into Ukraine. Not only because of this war, but also because of further Corona-related delays in the trade with China (here, in German), the supply bottlenecks have not – as hoped – eased, but in some cases even intensified (here, in German). Rising inflation (here, in German) is doing the rest to keep growth expectations for the German economy from skyrocketing (see here for current developments). And indeed, there are more and more voices warning of a liquidity squeeze for the German industry in the event of a recession (see only here, in German). Accordingly, the eyes of market participants are once again directed expectantly towards the government, but it is currently offering only slender fare:

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The German economy in March 2022 – Reality is setting in

The war of Russia against Ukraine dominates the headlines for over a month now (cf. here for the current situations update, in German). And while other nations and the largest parts of Europe had their respective “freedom day” a while ago, Germany was still fighting its own (unwinable) war against Corona – until the envisioned vaccination-obligation came crushingly down in the German parliament (as to the current German corona-status, cf. here, in German). The war as well as the (retarded) liberation from Corona will surely take a large toll on the German economy in the long run. In February (here), though, the German economy did not look too bad. But, hey, let’s take a look at immediate consequences, if any:

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Dawn of a new era at the BGH?

The change in jurisprudence of the German Federal Supreme Court (“Bundesgerichtshof“, “BGH“), may – after previous decisions regarding avoidance in insolvency that were initially difficult to interpret (here) – now actually turn into a true “dawn of a new era”: Germany’s highest civil court realignes areas such as avoidance law, the appointment of administrators and … more