Sports Arbitration: Munich Court Finds Arbitration Clause Invalid in Pechstein Case

The Munich District Court (Landgericht München I) issued a judgment today which, if confirmed upon appeal, could have a significant impact on sports arbitration in Germany. Today’s decision came in proceedings brought by German speed skater Claudia Pechstein against the International Skating Union (ISU) und its German member, Deutsche Eisschnelllauf-Gemeinschaft (DESG) for damages suffered as a result of a doping ban. Pechstein’s damages claim was dismissed, but the Munich court found the arbitration clause contained in the athletes’ agreement between Pechstein and both the ISU and DESG to be invalid. Continue reading

Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements – A U.S. Perspective

Last week’s guest post by Pietro Franzina discussed the proposal of the EU Commission, recently adopted, that the EU should become a party of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. Today, Ted Folkman provides the U.S. perspective on the Convention on his blog, Letters Blogatory, following up on an earlier post on the different proposals on how to implement the Convention in the U.S. system of state and federal courts. Ted, in short, believes that the Convention should be adopted and that in the real word, the differences between the rivalling approaches will not be felt.

Addendum: Here is a link to the comments of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein) dated October 2013. The German Bar Association welcomes the ratification, in particular with a view to transatlantic business. Its comments contain recommendations as to the declarations the European Union should or should not make pursuant Art. 19 – 21.

Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop, March 14/15, 2014: The Global Financial Architecture

The Merton Centre for European Integration and International Economic Order, University of Frankfurt, the School of Law, University of Glasgow and the Max Planck Centre for Comparative Public Law and International Law join forces for the 2014 Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop on March 14 and 15, 2014. The workshop on “International Investment Law and the Global Financial Architecture” will explore the role of international investment law in the current reorganization of the global financial architecture. Hear from the organizers: Continue reading

Update: Delisting Made Easier – Federal Supreme Court on Change of Market Segment for Listed Companies

In November 2013, we had reported on the Federal Supreme Court’s (Bundesgerichtshof)  change of direction on delistings.  In the Frosta judgment, the court gave up its previous position, as developed in the 2002 Macroton case, that delistings triggered the duty of the corporation itself or its majority shareholders to make a mandatory offer to buy out the minority shareholders. Professor Dirk Zetzsche reviews the new legal environment for going-private transactions  in Germany in an English language article, “Going Dark Under German Law – Towards an Efficient Regime for Regular Delisting.” Here is the abstract: Continue reading