Cases of the Week: How (Not) To Bundle Claims

Landgericht BraunschweigGermany does not have US style class actions. The introduction of the Capital Market Investors’ Model Proceeding Act (Kapitalanlegermusterverfahrensgesetz, KapMuG) in 2005 (triggered by the Deutsche Telekom securities litigation) and of the Model Declaratory Proceedings (Musterfeststellungsklage) that were added to the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) in November 2018 in order to address the wave of Diesel litigation have not really changed that. In the assessment of the plaintiffs’ bar, Germany’s legal tools for seeking collective redress are still not fit for purpose. Continue reading

Securities Litigation in Germany: Volkswagen and The Fall-out of Dieselgate

Landgericht BraunschweigOn the blog, we have tracked the jurisdictional journey of securities litigation brought against Porsche in relation to its failed attempt to take over Volkswagen (see here and here, for example). Now, Volkswagen itself is at the centre of the most recent wave of big-time securities litigation. Investors are suing VW for failure to inform markets on time about the diesel emissions scandal, also known as Dieselgate. Jurisdictionally, things are pretty straightforward this time. The competent court, the Braunschweig District Court (Landgericht) issued a press release earlier this week on the current scope of the litigation. Continue reading

Hedge Funds vs. Porsche: Litigation Gravitates to Hannover

In a decision today, the Braunschweig district court (Landgericht) has transferred two cases* brought by hedge funds investors against Porsche to the Hannover district court. The claimants are pursuing damages claims against Porsche related to Porsche’s attempt to take over Volkswagen.       Continue reading

Hedge Fund Litigation: Porsche’s Victory in Braunschweig

Here ist an update on the epic litigation battle that follows from Porsche’s failed take over of Volkswagen. Hedge funds try to recover losses suffered at the time and sue Porsche for billions of damages. The court cases have taken them on a Tour of Germany. Today, it was the Braunschweig District Court (Landgericht) which was scheduled to hand down decisions in three of the actions pending against Porsche. Continue reading