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GRP Rainer Attorneys and Tax Accountants in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: Many taxpayers have entrusted their money to several tax havens over the course of the past few years whose banking systems they thought they were familiar with. This would be the case, for example, for Luxembourg. Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein have been considered. Banks were supposed to have even supported tax evasion into these countries.

GRP Rainer Attorneys and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en explain: With its judgment dated April 9, 2013 (file ref. no.: II ZR 273/11), the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) took a formal position as to the circumstances of a termination without notice of a GmbH Managing Director. The immediate termination of a Managing Director is governed by the German Civil Code (BGB). For such termination, it is required that termination is effective within two weeks after receiving knowledge of the determining factors of the termination. In the aforementioned judgment, the BGH decided that the determination of the grounds for termination depends on the known reasons giving cause to the decision for immediate termination which were known by the decision-making party. In the case of a GmbH, such a party would be the general meeting of shareholders or the sole shareholder. Deviating from that, however, shareholders are free to transfer authority to issue effective terminations to other persons. This can be done, for example, by a provision in the articles of association.

GRP Rainer Attorneys and Tax Accountants in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart grprainer.com explain: In its judgment from February 19, 2013 (file ref. no.:) I – 20 U 55/12), the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Düsseldorf decided that an advertisement not addressed to professionals could potentially be misleading if a company advertises with customer ratings and a review board which does not provide links to all listed customer reviews. Falsification could also be construed if reviews and ratings would be audited for illegal content and possibly even deleted entirely.

GRP Rainer Attorneys and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart grprainer.com explain: The Regional Labor Court in Cologne decided (file ref. no.: 7 SA 766/12) that an employee returning to the company after paternal leave is entitled to work on a part-time basis. The plaintiff had been previously employed within a three-shift operation as a full-time employee. After his two-year parental leave, he only wanted to work on a part-time basis from 9:00am until 2:00pm. With his family situation with two children and a wife employed, working a full time position in three shifts did not seem possible.

GRP Rainer Attorneys and Tax Advisors in Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart www.grprainer.com explain: The Higher Regional Court Munich in its decision from November 8, 2012 (file ref. no.: 31 Wx 415/12) decided that the use of a fictitious name for a sole proprietor is not necessarily misleading. This decision also applies to those companies whose name is actually not registered as the official, legal name of company owner.

A preliminary heir can become a full heir if the revisionary heirs demand their legal share and the testator has accounted for this instance in his will.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London grprainer.com/en explains: In exercising its duty, the management board of a business has to take into account several obligations. In this context, the application of the level of care taken by a prudent and conscientious business manager is top priority. It must measure itself against this benchmark. Within the framework of possible litigation for damages, the burden of proof lies with the management board in cases of doubt. However, the BGH has already indicated in a few judgments that the management board’s duty of care is to be understood broadly for the purposes if its corporate activities.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart www.grprainer.com/en explains: In its judgment of July 10, 2013 (Az.: IV ZR 224/12), the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that the declaration does not require any separate notarial certification. The BGH had to reach a decision in a case in which the parties disputed the position of heir after the death of the testator in 2010. In 2002, the testator had concluded a contract of inheritance with his first wife in favour of a foundation set up by him. After his first wife had died and the testator had remarried, the testator appointed his wife as his sole heir with a testamentary disposition and declared the rescission of the contract of inheritance by means of notarial deed. The foundation benefiting from the contract of inheritance took the view that the declaration also needed to be certified.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart www.grprainer.com explains: The German Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled in its judgment of July 10, 2013 (Az.: 7 ABR 91/11) that the works council of a company hiring temporary workers can refuse to approve the borrowing of a temporary worker on a long-term basis, as this contravenes the Act Regulating the Supply of Workers (Gesetz zur Regelung der Arbeitnehmerüberlassung (AÜG)). In the instant case, no statements were made as to the duration of “temporary” because a temporally unrestricted transfer is more than merely temporary in any case.

GRP Rainer Lawyers Tax Advisors, Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and London www.grprainer.com/en explains: The supervisory board functions within the stock corporation (AG) as the controlling organ and monitors the management board’s business dealings. However, the resolutions of the supervisory board are also subject to a degree of control and can be invalid under certain circumstances.