The Inside Information Regime of the MAR and the Rise of the ESG Era

The rise in ESG investing has been characterized as an “investor revolution” and a manifestation of “social change”. The current coronavirus pandemic will arguably intensify the impact of such social change, with the “S” and “G” components of ESG, in particular, having been brought into sharper focus during the crisis. The issue of the extent to which ESG factors are (currently) of considerable importance – and, in particular, are likely to become even more so in the future – for the performance of share prices remains a highly controversial one in financial economics. However, where an empirically substantiated effect of ESG-related information on the prices of financial instruments can be…

Zur Einberufung der Hauptversammlung durch die nach § 122 Abs. 3 AktG ermächtigte Aktionärsminderheit

DeutschDie durch eine Aktionarsminderheit einberufene auserordentliche Hauptversammlung der Balda AG vom 18. 7. 2013 1 hat gezeigt, dass Rechtsstellung und Befugnisse der gerichtlich zur Einberufung ermachtigten Minderheit bislang wenig geklart sind. In besonderer Weise gilt dies fur die Frage, ob der einberufende Aktionar befugt ist, eine Anmeldestelle zu benennen, und in der Folge Aktionare, die sich innerhalb der Frist des § 123 Abs. 3 Satz 2 AktG unter der angegebenen Adresse anmelden, zur Teilnahme an der Hauptversammlung berechtigt sind. Der Beitrag bejaht diese Frage. EnglishUnder Section 122 Para. 3 of the German Stock Corporation Act, a court may authorise shareholders to call a sh…

The Inside Information Regime of the MAR andthe Rise of the ESG Era

Abstract The rise in ESG investing has been characterized as an “investor revolution” and a manifestation of “social change”. The current coronavirus pandemic will arguably intensify the impact of such social change, with the “S” and “G” components of ESG, in particular, having been brought into sharper focus during the crisis. The issue of the extent to which ESG factors are (currently) of considerable importance – and, in particular, are likely to become even more so in the future – for the performance of share prices remains a highly controversial one in financial economics. However, where an empirically substantiated impact of ESG-related information on the prices of financial instrumen…

Eingriffsbefugnisse nach der Leerverkaufs-VO bei Bedrohungen der Finanzstabilität und des Marktvertrauens

Zusammenfassung Das von der BaFin am 18. 2. 2019 erlassene Leerverkaufsverbot in Aktien der Wirecard AG ist bei der kritischen Aufarbeitung der Rolle von BaFin und BMF im Wirecard-Skandal zunehmend ins Zentrum gerückt. Insbesondere im Wirecard-Untersuchungsausschuss wird das Leerverkaufsverbot als „falsches Gütesiegel“ mitverantwortlich gemacht für die noch bis zum Tag der Stellung des Insolvenzantrags fortgeführten Tätigkeiten des einstigen deutschen Vorzeige-FinTechs. Doch nicht nur aus heutiger Sicht, sondern auch auf Basis der Tatsachen, die der BaFin am 18. 2. 2019 bekannt waren, bestehen durchgreifende Bedenken gegen die Rechtmäßigkeit des Leerverkaufsverbots. Aufbauend auf einer ausf…

Make It or Break It: The Break-Through Rule as a Break-Through for the European Takeover Directive?

The break-through concept is the most recent idea to break the deadlock with respect to EU takeover legislation. As devised by the High-Level Group of Company Law Experts, chaired by the Dutch Jaap Winter, the break-through concept would do away with two of the most important types of impediments to takeovers within EU member states. The first part of the paper explores the break-through concept in some detail, particularly with respect to its premises, its two guiding principles - exclusive shareholder decisionmaking and proportionality, - and the justifications given by the Group for the proposed interventionist rules. The second part of the paper is dedicated to an analysis of the econom…

Managing Risk in the Financial System

A Synthetic View of Different Concepts of Creditor Protection - Or a High-Level Framework for Corporate Creditor Protection

Protection of corporate creditors has become an important topic within the European Union. At EU level, discussion has been sparked by widespread dissatisfaction with some very rigid and cumbersome provisions, and even with the whole concept of the Second Company Law Directive. At EU Member State level, three landmark decisions by the European Court of Justice — Centros, Uberseering, and Inspire Art — opened the way for an all-out competition between the different company forms provided for by national company laws. At both levels, albeit for different reasons, British company law — and in particular the absence of any legal capital in the private limited company — acts as the main driving …

The Uncertain Role of Banks’ Corporate Governance in Systemic Risk Regulation

This paper examines how corporate governance reform of banks relates to systemic risk. Although there has been substantial emphasis on the importance of corporate governance of banks, it is not entirely clear how this enterprise relates to the goal of financial stability. The first part of the paper differentiates between kinds of risk that arise from the structure of the firm, such as shareholder ownership, limited liability and the separation between control and ownership, and kinds of risk that arise from interactions at the systemic level. It highlights why the risk-taking of banks presents, in many respects, a special case not only because of the structure of their business but also becau…

Corporate Governance of Banks after the Financial Crisis - Theory, Evidence, Reforms

Poor corporate governance of banks has increasingly been acknowledged as an important cause of the recent financial crisis. Given the developments since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, this fact is not readily to be explained. Listed banks and even non-listed firms worldwide have publicly emphasized that good corporate governance is of vital concern for the company, and have adopted firm-specific corporate governance codices. Moreover, banking supervisors have taken up the issue. In particular, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has already published two editions of a guideline entitled “Enhancing corporate governance for banking organisations” which perfectly reflects the super…