News

27.11.2024 - Alliance: Post-contractual non-competition clauses: what employers need to know

An Employer who is concerned that an Employee will compete with him after leaving the company will consider agreeing to a post-contractual non-competition clause. For example, Such a clause aims, to prevent the Employee from working as an Employee for a competitor after the end of the employment relationship or from setting up a rival business of their own. The requirements that the legal systems of the individual States place on the agreement, the form and the cancellation of post-contractual non-competition clauses with Employees, vary greatly.

31.10.2024 - Alliance: Convincing team, convincing solutions: Now even more expertise in Paris

We are delighted to announce that experienced lawyers Marc Manciet and Soraya Racette will join our team in Paris as of January 1, 2025. Together with Maurice Hartmann, they will lead our Paris office, bringing extensive expertise in various areas of law.

22.10.2024 - Alliance: Equal treament of men and women in an employment relationship - a current topic again

In May 2023, Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council on strengthening the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women for equal work or work of equal value through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms was adopted, and Member States are required to implement this di-rective into national law by 07/06/2026.

20.09.2024 - Alliance: Tightening of Chinese corporate criminal law – What risks arise for foreign companies and their managing directors in China?

On 29 December 2023, the National People's Congress (the legislature of the People's Republic of China) made significant amendments to the criminal law.

This change in the law, which has meanwhile come into force, is in line with the central government's promise to sharpen the focus on lawful conduct by private companies in China and to fight corruption with all severity.

09.07.2024 - Alliance: ESG regulation: What companies need to prepare for now

In recent months, the EU Parliament has passed a large number of ESG-related (ESG: Environmental, Social and Governance) legislative proposals. Given the speed and variety of new laws, it is important for entrepreneurs and organisations to stay informed about the latest developments in ESG legislation. Below we provide an overview of the current ESG regulatory requirements in the package of measures relating to the Green Deal and explain what companies should consider in the near future.

17.06.2024 - Alliance: The Chinese data protection labyrinth: guidelines for legal data export

Since the beginning of 2022, a large number of data protection laws have been enacted in China. Since there was initially a lack of necessary concreteness and harmonisation of these laws, their specific scope and significance was difficult to estimate for foreign enterprises in China. In 2023 and 2024, there has been a large number of legal amendments and significant concretisation in data protection law.

09.05.2024 - Alliance: Reforms under Corporate Law

The beginning of the year saw significant changes to corporate law. In Germany, a significant reform came into force with the Act on the Modernization of Partnership Law (MoPeG). In Austria, the catalog of company forms was expanded to include the 'flexible corporation', which has offered new opportunities for business activities since 1 January 2024. China will introduce comprehensive changes to company law from July 1, 2024, which will affect foreign investors and management in particular. There are also important developments in France, Italy, Slovakia and Turkey, which will each introduce new legal requirements and changes to the corporate environment.

25.03.2024 - Alliance: Cybercrime: Risks in international payment transactions

Today, more and more business activities and professional activities are shifting to the digital world. The coronavirus pandemic has contributed significantly to this trend, as it has forced us to adapt to new realities. This situation, as well as the efficiency and convenience of remote work, has created a new working reality, which in turn brings new risks of which many of us were previously unaware. We are talking about cybercrime, which companies in particular can suffer.

07.03.2024 - Alliance: Telemedicine worldwide- legal aspects and challenges

With telemedicine / remote treatment, healthcare medical services are provided by means of audiovisual communication technologies over geographical or temporal distances. Telemedicine is diverse and can be provided both in regional rural care or across countries as well as in the specialised care of rare diseases or by specialists that are not available everywhere. Especially after the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine has increased in importance.

21.09.2023 - Alliance: Legally compliant whistleblowing in your company - country update

Most countries of the European Union have already transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law within their legal systems. There are some legal differences in how the Whistleblower Directive has been transposed into the various laws.

14.06.2023 - Alliance: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

The directive on sustainability reporting (EU) 2022/2464, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, abbreviated “CSRD”) leads to an expansion of the reporting obligation for thousands of companies throughout Europe, starting from financial year 2024, for reports published in 2025. The CSRD amends the existing directive on non-financial reporting and establishes both more detailed reporting obligations, on the one hand, and a larger circle of companies required to issue such reports on the other.

19.05.2023 - Alliance: New regulatory hurdles in M&A transactions

In the case of M&A transactions, all participants strive for a quick closing and thus legal certainty in the future. Previously, an M&A transaction was checked ex ante by the responsible competition authorities if certain turnover thresholds were exceeded to determine whether the project would create or strengthen a dominant position. However, this legal certainty is now lost due to the most recent practice and case law of the European Court of Justice (hereinafter referred to as “ECJ”), since, even if the turnover thresholds are not met, there is the possibility of an ex post content review and, if necessary, a reversal obligation.

03.04.2023 - Turkey: Holiday Properties - Taxes & Inheritance: Turkey

The decision to purchase a holiday home is often made on a wave of emotion, with the exuberance of great memories of a beautiful summer holiday. But however enthusiastic you are about the beauty of your home and its area, it is important to also keep an eye on the costs in order to avoid unpleasant surprises later on leading to “buyer’s remorse”. These start with the ancillary costs of the actual purchase and can continue until the inheritance tax in the case of an inheritance.

In the following article, we review the costs you need to take into account for Turkey as they occur on the purchase of the property, during its ongoing use, on its sale or transfer as a gift, or even in the event of inheritance.

03.04.2023 - Italy: Holiday Properties - Taxes & Inheritance: Italy

The decision to purchase a holiday home is often made on a wave of emotion, with the exuberance of great memories of a beautiful summer holiday. But however enthusiastic you are about the beauty of your home and its area, it is important to also keep an eye on the costs in order to avoid unpleasant surprises later on leading to “buyer’s remorse”. These start with the ancillary costs of the actual purchase and can continue until the inheritance tax in the case of an inheritance.

In the following article, we review the costs you need to take into account for Italy as they occur on the purchase of the property, during its ongoing use, on its sale or transfer as a gift, or even in the event of inheritance.

13.03.2023 - Alliance: Legally compliant whistleblowing in your company - country update

“Whistleblowing” describes the uncovering of abuses, such as corruption, money laundering, and environmental hazards, by whistleblowers who have acquired insider knowledge due to their professional activity. Whistleblowers must usually accept serious personal or professional disadvantages as a result of their reports.

To protect whistleblowers, the EU already issued the Whistleblowing Directive in 2019. This directive stipulates that enterprises have the obligation to establish channels and procedures to enable reports of abuses and breaches of the law.

13.02.2023 - Alliance: Foreign Subsidies Regulation: How will new regulation impact and reshape the M&A and public tender offers market?

On 12 January 2023 the Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (hereinafter: the “FSR Regulation”) has entered into force.

The FSR Regulation, which will apply from 12 July 2023, equips the European Commission (hereinafter: the “Commission”) with new tools preventing distortion in competition of the internal (EU) market resulting from “foreign subsidies” meaning subsidies granted by the non-EU states to the entities operating on the internal market.

31.01.2023 - Alliance: The end of trust-based working hours? Practical effects of the decision of the BAG dated 13/09/2022

With a judgment from 2019, the ECJ had clearly set the direction: From the Working Hours Directive in conjunction with Art. 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR), there is the obligation of the Member States to ensure that employers introduce an “objective, reliable and accessible system that can be used to measure the daily working hours worked by employees”; this follows from the right of employees to effective health protection and compliance with the legally prescribed (weekly and daily) maximum working hours. However, the ECJ had not set a specific deadline for the Member States.

Over three full years, the requirements of the ECJ then remained without any significant practical consequences, with a few exceptions that we will present below on a country-specific basis. And it was probably generally assumed that legislative intervention would be required for the practical implementation of the judgment. However, the German Federal Labour Court has now taken the ball directly and formulated directly from existing law specific obligations incumbent on the employer even without legislative measures.

17.11.2022 - Alliance: Is your company a "Gatekeeper"? Digital Markets Act News

The applicable e-commerce policy is over 20 years old. That is why the European Union launched a regulatory package for online platforms a few years ago.

02.11.2022 - Legally compliant whistleblowing in your company - country update in Germany

In Germany, the draft of the Whistleblower Protection Act was passed by the Bundesrat on May 12, 2023, after the establishment of a mediation committee, and will come into force in June 2023.

22.09.2022 - Alliance: A bird's eye view of the law: The commercial use of unmanned aircraft

The development and commercialisation of drones is making relentless progress. Due to the wide range of applications and the rapid technical advances, unmanned aircraft – or “UAS” (=Unmanned Aircraft System) for short – are predicted to be a promising future.

01.09.2022 - The end of trust-based working hours in Germany?

Based on its wording, German law only provides for the recording of working hours in certain cases. However, the Federal Labour Court (decision of 13/09/2022) has decided that there is a general obligation to record working hours (i.e. start and end of daily working hours and thus their duration including overtime). In the absence of express legal standardisation of such an obligation, the court derives this from an “EU law-compliant interpretation” of § 3 para. 2 no. 1 ArbSchG (Arbeitsschutzgesetz [Occupational Health and Safety Act]).

08.08.2022 - Rent abatement/rent exemption policy for Shanghai enterprises - What are the current requirements and conditions?

In the first half of 2022, the Corona Virus broke out again in many places in China. From early March to early June, the infection numbers in Shanghai had also developed rapidly. For this reason, massive lockdown measures were issued by the local government, which resulted in the closure of almost all companies in Shanghai. After the lockdown was released, general support policies have now been introduced in various regions, including Shanghai, which include rent reduction/exemption measures for locally based companies.

05.07.2022 - Alliance: What to do if the company is hacked? Actions from a legal perspective.

In case of a hacking attack, unauthorised attackers attempt to access external PCs, notebooks, smartphones, tablets or even entire corporate networks. Since the frequency of such attacks has increased massively in Europe over the past year, in this article we look at the successful hacker attack from the outside, which encrypts the affected systems in such a way that the company can no longer access its system at all.

19.06.2022 - Alliance: New opportunities and threats in sales: revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation 2022 in force.

The European Commission’s Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”), which was previously potentially applicable to distribution, whereby agreements between manufacturers or suppliers and retailers are exempt from the ban on cartels, ceased to be in force on 31/05/2022, because the original period of validity of 12 years was reached.
These new versions bring some changes which relax requirements compared to the previous legal situation, but also tighten requirements, which primarily take into account the area of tension between online/offline sales.

09.06.2022 - Legal Workshop with founders belonging to the Osnabrück based start-up accelerator SmartCityHouse

We had a visit from the founders of Eskapadia, freifeuer, NeoTaste und peerOS! These four highly interesting start-ups belong to Batch # 1 of the Osnabrück-based start-up accelerator SmartCityHouse. Schindhelm Osnabrück is also part of the SmartCityHouse’s advisor team.

03.06.2022 - Mögliche Verfassungswidrigkeit der Abgeltungsteuer

Vorlage des Niedersächsischen Finanzgerichts an das Bundesverfassungsgericht

23.05.2022 - Alliance: Digital Revolution & Legal Evolution – copyright and related IP rights in the digital domestic market

Cryptocurrency, big data, artificial intelligence, data theft, cloud, virtual, augmented, or mixed reality, cyber warfare, telemedicine, social media, autonomous driving, Industry 4.0, Criminal Law 4.0, NFTs – these are not the only issues that are bringing about the era of the fourth so-called digital revolution. Each of these digital changes is bringing new challenges to all facets of society – the link between law and technology is one of the biggest. An example that illustrates the special relationship between legal and digital technologies very well are NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

12.05.2022 - Resumption of Work and Production in Shanghai – What are the current requirements and conditions?

On May 2, 2022, an announcement was published by the relevant authority in Shanghai regarding the requirements and conditions that companies in Shanghai must meet in order to resume work and production under the current lockdown.

10.05.2022 - Salary payments in times of lockdown in Shanghai – What are the requirements and conditions for Chinese companies under the current preventive measures?

On April 28 of 2022, Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau – in coordination with Shanghai High People's Court – has issued regulation on handling labor disputes involving epidemics. This relates first and foremost to the regulation of salary payments during the continuing lockdown in Shanghai.

14.04.2022 - The current turning point – Force Majeure and loss of the basis for business

The "current turning point" in connection with the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine has not only a political but also perhaps an even greater economic dimension. The sharp rise in the price of raw materials and energy has led to a dramatic increase in costs for companies. The interruption of supply chains often causes production downtimes in industry. Despite all the harmonisation of laws that has taken place in the last 20 to 30 years, especially in the European legal sphere, this issue has remained untouched by efforts at legal standardisation. The reason for this was apparently a lack of topicality. Therefore, with this article, we provide an overview of how this topic is handled legally with regard to three key questions in the respective countries of our partner law firms.

18.03.2022 - Helping with the right legal form: The non-profit association

If you want to help on a long term basis, you should think about founding an association. The legal hurdles for this can be overcome and the legal form has the advantage that receipts can be issued to donors if the association is non-profit. Finally, no significant start-up capital is required for founding an association.

01.03.2022 - The commercial use of unmanned aircraft in Germany

In Germany, the regulations for private and commercial use of drones can be found in Section 5a “Operation of unmanned aircraft” of the Air Transport Regulations, more precisely in Sections 21 a et seq. of the LuftVO (Luftverkehrs-Ordnung [Air Traffic Regulations]). Due to the priority of application of EU regulations, the LuftVO was adapted to EU law in the relevant areas from July 2021. In addition, the EU Drone Regulation 2019/947 applies in all other points.

09.02.2022 - Alliance: The Digital Service Act and the upcoming reform of the digital services

Already in 2020, the European Commission presented the draft for a new EU regulation on a single market for digital services, through which the latest developments in the field of digital services are to be incorporated and regulated at EU level. The proposal aims at better protection of consumer rights in the digital environment and at the joint internal market-related enforcement potential of the EU Member States.

03.01.2022 - Digital Revolution & Legal Evolution in Germany

Measures against computer piracy are regulated at two levels, a civil and a criminal level. However, the regulations are in the same law: the German Copyright Act. On the one hand, the unauthorised exploitation of copyrighted works, e.g., by copying or making available for download, constitutes a copyright infringement, which can be given a formal warning in accordance with § 97 para. 1 UrhG (Urhebergesetz [Copyright Act]).

01.01.2022 - Force Majeure and loss of the basis for business in Germany

Under German law, the right to adjust the contractual relationship up to and including withdrawal from the contract as a whole follows the principles developed for cessation of the basis of the contract. The basis of the transaction is, roughly speaking, the mutually recognisable ideas of motives, conditions and circumstances that existed at the time of conclusion of the contract. According to the principle that contracts must be fulfilled (pacta sunt servanda), such adjustments or terminations of contractual relationships can only be considered in absolutely exceptional cases.

22.12.2021 - Change of Policy on Allowances and Subsidies for Foreign Individuals

From 1 January 2022, foreign nationals will no longer enjoy a general tax exemption for allowances for housing costs, language courses and education costs for children.

20.07.2020 - Turkey: ECJ Declares the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Shield Framework Invalid

ECJ, judgment of 16.07.2020 C-311/18 ("Schrems II")

Data transfers from the EU to the US have always been a difficult process from a legal point of view. The ECJ has now struck down a data privacy pack used to establish an adequate level of data protection – the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Shield.

20.03.2020 - COVID-19 and GDPR

Currently, we only have one dominating topic – COVID-19 and its global spread. In that respect, many questions of employers and employers with respect to the protection of personal data arise. Please find our summary of the FAQs below.

25.02.2020 - China Update

Q&A on Labor Issues which may arise during the New Corona Virus epidemic prevention and control period.

29.01.2020 - New SCWP Schindhelm Services SE Office in Frankfurt

On 01.01.2020 the new location of Schindhelm Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH has opened its doors in Frankfurt. The head of the new office in the German commercial metropolis is Schindhelm counsel and partner Dr. Karolin Nelles LL.M.

22.11.2019 - Austria: Even more transparency for transparent companies

State and corporate compliance obligations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing remain an utmost priority for EU member states. Companies (“legal entities”) have therefore been obliged to disclose their “beneficial owners”, among other things, for quite some time. In Austria, a separate database - the “Beneficial Owners Register” - was set up for this purpose. In course of the implementation of the 5th EU Money Laundering Directive, further tightening measures have now been adopted.

22.11.2019 - Austria: On the termination of the lease due to considerably detrimental use

According to Sec. 1118 ABGB (Austrian Civil Code), the lessor can terminate a lease unilaterally prematurely if the lessee makes a “considerably detrimental use” of the leased object. The scope and content of these legal provisions is a constant source of discussion. The mere performance of structural alterations by the lessee without the consent of the lessor does not in itself justify a good cause for the termination of the lease.

22.11.2019 - Europe: Implementation of the EU trade secrets directive

The new “Law on Trade Secrets” now implements the so-called “EU Trade Secrets Directive”. This adopts the European legal requirements for the protection of confidential know-how and secret business information. Moreover, the new legal provisions contain limitation periods and important procedural provisions for the protection of trade secrets in court proceedings.

22.11.2019 - Italy: The new law on corporate crises as a “work in progress”

A new law on company crises has significantly changed the rules applicable to limited liability companies in this respect Among other things, the liability of the company’s management was tightened. Furthermore, the tasks of the supervisory body were expanded. The reform’s true impact remains to be seen: Will there be a change in corporate culture or will there be an increase in corporate crises?

22.11.2019 - Slovakia: New law on whistleblowing

“Whistleblower” - people who point out violations of the law - will be protected even more in the future. This is the aim of a new law that came into force a few months ago. The new regulation adds to already existing provisions on the protection of whistleblowers in the employment relationship.

22.11.2019 - Turkey: Changes in subsidy law

State aid is granted on the basis of various criteria. The region or the economic sector in which the investment is made is decisive, but also the strategic importance of the investment and the level of the investment volume. Investments in structurally weak regions receive higher subsidies than investments in industrial areas. For the award of grants, a distinction is made between six different regions.

22.11.2019 - Liability of the operator of a website for the Facebook “Like Button”

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled on the long-discussed question of whether and how website operators can integrate the Facebook Like button (so-called “social plug-in”) in accordance with data protection requirements.Th ECJ’s investigation results from a legal dispute between the Consumer Association of North Rhine-Westphalia and a subsidiary of Peek & Cloppenburg KG.

11.11.2019 - Workshop on “Investment in Germany”

Schindhelm held a workshop on Thursday, November 7th, 2019 on the topic "Investment in Germany " organized and hosted by the German Centre for Industry and Trade Taicang.

25.06.2019 - Turkey: The mandatory mediation procedure in Turkish law - labour law and commercial law suits

Justified by the goal of solving legal disputes in a fast and economical manner without filing lawsuits and thus relieving the overloaded Turkish courts, a mediation procedure is implemented as a mandatory pre-condition for filing a lawsuit according to Turkish labour and commercial law.

31.05.2019 - GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR): ONE YEAR ON – EUROPEAN OVERVIEW ON KEY DEVELOPMENTS

It is the first anniversary of the GDPR. After a stressful finish to May 25, 2018 we were all excited to learn how the authorities would enforce this law which fundamentally changed the rules of data processing within the European Union.

09.01.2019 - Austria: New protection of business secrets - entrepreneurs must act.

Companies invest in know-how, from which there are important competitive advantages. Valuable information is the currency of the knowledge-based company. Maintaining confidentiality of business secrets is therefore a management instrument for competitiveness and research innovations. The loss of secrets can result in serious consequences, in particular, and generally can no longer be reversed.

22.11.2018 - Hungary: new law concerning the protection of know-how – implementation of the know-how directive

The EU Directive on the regulation of confidential know-how and business information (know-how directive) was implemented in Hungary in July 2018.

22.11.2018 - news on the shareholder list

When a new shareholder list must be submitted in the commercial register due to a change, it must satisfy the requirements of § 40 I GmbHG [Limited Liability Companies Act] in the version of 23/06/2017 according to the decision of the BGH [Federal Supreme Court] dated 26/06/2018 – II ZB 12/16.

22.11.2018 - no d&o protection for gmbh managing directors for payments after maturity of insolvency

If a Gmbh makes payments after it becomes insolvent, the Managing Directors are personal-ly liable vis-à-vis the company, regardless of the internal allocation of responsibilities.

22.11.2018 - Italy: new rules for small limited liability companies

With the large-scale reform of the company law from the year 2003, Italian legislators had simplified the regulations on the Governance of limited liability companies.

22.11.2018 - Europe: EUGH for the trade acceptance of European Union trademarks

Nestlé is a holder of a 3D EU trademark that corresponds to the "KitKat" bar marketed by it and protects its design.

22.11.2018 - Europe: billions in penalties against Google due to misuse by Android

Throughout Europe, approximately 80% of smartphones are equipped with the Google oper-ating system, Android...

22.11.2018 - Europe: softening of the primacy of application of community law by the ECJ decision "Taricco II"?

At the end of 2017, in the legal case C-42/17, the ECJ issued a much publicised decision on the question of the primacy of application of Community Law.

22.11.2018 - China: e-commerce law – impact on cross-border online business

In view of the rapid growth of online trade, the Chinese government adopted the first e-commerce law on the comprehensive regulation of online business on 31/08/2018, which will enter into force on 01/01/2019.

22.11.2018 - Bulgaria: new developments in the use and reclassification of agricultural areas

Since May 2014, ownership rights for land and soil can only be acquired by natural and legal persons who have resided or been established in Bulgaria for longer than five years.

22.11.2018 - Turkey: The decree to protect the value of the Turkish currency – limitation of foreign currency and foreign currency indexed contracts

The presidential decree no. 32 issued on 12/09/2018 to protect the value of the Turkish cur-rency ("Decree") sets the limitation of foreign currency and foreign currency indexed contracts and stipulates that these contracts must be converted within 30 days into Turkish Lira (“TL”).

22.11.2018 - The Czech Republic: changes in the payment of sick leave and consequences for the employer

In the Czech Republic, as of 01/07/2019, employees should already be entitled to sick leave from the first day of their inability to work.

22.11.2018 - Slovakia: new conditions for the employment of foreigners

Due to the low unemployment rate in Slovakia, employers have recently been confronted with a lack of available workers.

22.11.2018 - Romania: implementation of the GDPR – law no. 190/2018

In Romania, law no. 190/2018, and thus the national implementation of the GDPR, took effect as of 31/07/2018. In comparison with other EU countries, law no. 190/2018 was rather short.

22.11.2018 - Poland: withdrawal as sole managing director will be slightly more difficult from 2019

In the business world, situations often arise in which the only existing managing director wants to leave the company.

22.11.2018 - Poland: higher wage and incidental wage costs from 2019

In the budget planning for 2019, companies should prepare for the expected increase in Po-lish labour costs.

28.06.2018 - Bulgaria: New requirements for company sale and insolvency

As in the past, in the case of company sales, the seller has repeatedly neither paid salaries due nor paid social security contributions due for employees, the Bulgarian Commercial Code was amended accordingly by three successive amendments in December 2017, February and March 2018.

28.06.2018 - Belgium: Fairness and transparency in online trading

Online platforms and search engines dominate Internet trading. Unilateral business conditions, non-transparent algorithms and rankings are unfortunately not uncommon.

28.06.2018 - Austria: E-allocation and safe linking by means of hash value

The electronic transmission of tenders in the award procedure is nothing new and was already standardised in the Federal Procurement Act 2006 both for the classical area and for the area of sector contractors.

24.05.2018 - New EU data protection law: Data transfer to third countries

International business transactions often involve cross border transfer of personal data. This is the case for instance where the data is stored on a server located in a third country (a country outside the EEA) or a third country IT service provider has access to the data processed by a company within the EU. If personal data is to be transferred to a third country specific provisions of the GDPR will apply.

25.04.2018 - New EU data protection law: Data breaches

As of 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduces harsh sanctions for data breaches with extended scope of applicability.Companies and other data processing entities become potential subjects not only to the data subjects’ claims for damages, the enforceability of which has been enhanced, but also to increased administrative fines to be imposed by supervisory authorities.

12.03.2018 - New EU data protection law: Data Protection Officer

The General Regulation on Data Protection (GDPR) which will apply from 25th May 2018, introduces the position of the Data Protection Officer (DPO).The DPO shall be the contact person for and shall be involved in all data protection related issues of the given entity. The DPO is an organ within the company which liaises with the authority, the company and the data subjects.

15.02.2018 - New EU data protection law: sanctions and liability

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted by the EU Parliament in 2016 provides a higher standard of protection of personal data for EU citizens. The GDPR will have direct effect in all member states as of May 25, 2018 and it will affect businesses all around the world that are engaged in activities with individuals in the EU.

22.01.2018 - New EU data protection law: Principles on the processing of personal data

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted by the EU Parliament in 2016 provides a higher standard of protection of personal data for EU citizens. The GDPR will have direct effect in all member states as of May 25, 2018 and it will affect businesses all around the world that are engaged in activities with individuals in the EU.

11.12.2017 - New EU data protection law: compliance check

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the EU will come into force on 25 May 2018 and it will affect organisations worldwide working with or within the EU. The GDPR promotes accountability and governance. Organisations are required to put into place comprehensive governance measures to ensure compliance. Non-compliance can lead to heavy fines up to EUR 20 million or 4 % of the global annual turnover, whichever is higher.

17.11.2017 - New EU data protection law: Fines up to EUR 20 million

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted by the EU Parliament in 2016 provides a higher standard of protection of personal data for EU citizens. The GDPR will have direct effect in all member states as of May 25, 2018 and it will affect businesses all around the world that are engaged in activities with individuals in the EU.

31.08.2017 - Need for action by business enterprises and public authorities: The new data protection law 2018

Data protection law has been revised throughout the EU. The new regulations will become binding as of 25 May 2018.

24.07.2017 - Taicang China - Germany Friendshipcup International Table Tennis / Schindhelm Team

On Saturday, 8th of July, the Second Chinese Germany Friendship Cup in table tennis took place in Taicang.

30.06.2017 - Schindhelm Osnabrück hosted BVMW: Theme Night on Chances in India

Schindhelm Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH was host to the BVMW (Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft) External Trade Evening, during which in front of 45 interested listeners chances of German small and medium-sized businesses in India were discussed and opportunities to create charitable benefit through CSR-projects were shown by the example of IndienHilfe Deutschland e.V. (IndiaHelp Germany registered society).

14.02.2017 - How to make a website B2B-compliant? Review of the judgement by the Higher Regional Court of Hamm of 16 November 2016 (court file no. AZ 1-12 U 52/16)

The world of e-commerce is divided into two large areas: On the one hand, there are business enterprises which exclusively deal with other business enterprises (B2B); on the other hand, there are those which primarily offer products or services to consumers (B2C).

31.01.2017 - New duties of business enterprises to provide information to resolve disputes with consumers

As early as in February 2016, the German “Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Matters” [Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz - VSBG] implemented into national law the Community “ADR Directive” (Directive 2013/11/EU).

10.06.2016 - Opening Schindhelm Office Taicang, China

Simultaneously with the 10th anniversary of the Schindhelm Office in Shanghai, Schindhelm Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH opened another office in the city of Taicang, which is located about 50 kilometres away from Shanghai.

20.10.2015 - The Schindhelm M&A Team advises the sole shareholder of a engineering service provider of the automotive industry on the sale of its shares

The Schindhelm M&A Team Osnabrueck has advised the sole shareholder of a engineering service provider of the automotive industry on ...

15.10.2015 - Schindhelm M&A Team has counseled a mid-size company acquainted in the field of medical industry on the sale of its business operations

The Schindhelm M&A Team Osnabrueck has counseled the management of a company which is dealing with medical products and any other kind of medical interior on the sale of its business operations as well as on the sale of its shares in another company to a strategic follower having a continuation aim with respect to the former business operation.

08.09.2015 - Schindhelm M&A Team advises the management board of KiKxxl on the re-acquisition of shares

The Schindhelm M&A Team Osnabrueck has advised the management board of the communication service provider, KiKxxl GmbH, located in Osnabrueck regarding the re-acquisition of 51 percent of its shares from ...

16.10.2014 - Merger control in M&A Transactions: Risk of fines in the millions for breaching the merger control prohibition of implementation

A recent fine of 20 Mio. Euro against a Norwegian salmon breeding and salmon processing company for breaching the prohibition on implementation of the EU-Merger Regulation (ECMR) currently causes a stir in the M & A practice. This case clarifies that ...

16.09.2013 - Schindhelm Team advises in sale process of ICT Automotive Group

A Schindhelm Team has advised the insolvency administrator of ICT Automotive Group in the asset sale process to Korean Dongkook Industry Co. and thereby essentially contributed to the rescue of a large number of Jobs.

22.04.2013 - The high regional court of Düsseldorf (OLG Düsseldorf) increases fines in the “liquefied gas cartel”

In 2007 and 2009 the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed a fine of overall EUR 208 Mio on certain companies involved in the “liquefied gas cartel”.

12.05.2011 - Schindhelm advises landlord in the conclusion of a long-term tenancy agreement with Stadtwerke Osnabrück AG (Osnabrück municipal utilities) regarding a property at the Nikolaiort in Osnabrück

Under the coordination of Dr. Manuela Hechler, Schindhelm advised the landlord with regard to a long-term tenancy agreement regarding parts of the property at Nikolaiort 3/4 in Osnabrück.

- China: Legal Update on Chinese Labour Law

With our newsletter we like to inform you about recent legal updates and practice in China in the future.