Rebuilding the Berlin Wall?
On 19 December 2018, the German government has passed amendments to the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act (“AWG”) and to the German Foreign Trade and Payment Ordinance (“AWV”) whose compatibility with European law is highly questionable. The structure and scope of investment review provided for under the AWG in conjunction with the AWV is that the Federal Ministry of Economics, the competent German authority, possesses an extensive ex-post examination competence regarding the acquisition of shares of German companies by third-country nationals. Of particular importance for foreign direct investments (FDI) is the screening of sector specific and cross-sectoral investments by ... continue reading
