German Company Law and the Capital Market

Abstract

Due to globalization and the process of desintermediation, the German capital market is currently undergoing far-reaching, structural changes. Among others, the German legislature passed a number of amendments to the Joint Stock Company Act and the Commercial Code in reaction to deficiencies in the fields of Accounting, Corporate Governance and Transparency that had become apparent in past practice. This paper demonstrates despite these changes, the Acts do not provide adequate protection. The personal and material scope of the latest amendments are drawn too narrowly, incompletely, and at times, in a contradictory fashion.

Keywords: Germany, Capital Market, Accounting, Transparency, Corporate Governance

JEL Classification: K22