On June 21, 2013, the Bar Council of England and Wales and the German Bar Association’s International Section are hosting a seminar in Hamburg which might be of interest to readers. One session is looking at arbitration in the two jurisdictions: Read More
Category: Financial Institutions Litigation
Porsche and the Volkswagen Take-Over: First Criminal Action Coming To A Close
As previously reported, Holger Härter, Porsche’s CFO at the time of the attempted Volkswagen take-over, is facing criminal charges for his conduct in the transaction. The first trial is coming to a close now. The Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office (Staatsanwaltschaft) accused Härter and members of his finance team of having misrepresented the exposure under the option agreements to BNP Parisbas when they negotiated Porsche’s credit line and hence obtained credit by deception (Kreditbetrug; Sec. 265b German Criminal Code, Strafgesetzbuch). This is a criminal offence, even if the bank did not suffer any credit – merely having put the bank at risk suffices.
Forum on Global Financial Institutions Litigation – London Conference, November 28/29, 2012
C5’s Forum on Global Financial Institutions Litigation is held at a time of a sharp increase in the number of claims against financial institutions, tighter regulation and more regulatory investigations against financial institutions (see the recent post on Germany’s growth rates). Check out the programme – I will be speaking on litigation funding. The conference is held on Wednesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 29, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, London. If any of you, dear readers, are attending as well, let me know – it would be great to meet in person!
“Banks in Court” – Germany Posts Record Growth in Banking Litigation
“Banks in Court” (Banken vor Gericht) is today’s Handelsblatt cover story (Update August 22, 2012: article was paywalled yesterday, now available online), devoted to the dramatic increase of banking litigation in Germany. Handelsblatt looked a various indicators: It surveyed the numbers of actions filed, the provsions made by banks for litigation risks and spoke to judges and lawyers. Activity is up in customer vs. bank litigation as well as in bank-to-bank litigation and most certainly in criminal investigations into the various bank activities.