Cross-Border Reincorporations in the European Union: The Case for Comprehensive Harmonisation

46 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2017

See all articles by Carsten Gerner-Beuerle

Carsten Gerner-Beuerle

University College London - Faculty of Laws; University of Notre Dame - Notre Dame Law School; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Federico M. Mucciarelli

Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) - Dipartimento di Economia Marco Biagi, Modena; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Edmund Schuster

London School of Economics - Law School

Mathias Siems

European University Institute (EUI); University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Date Written: May 15, 2017

Abstract

This article compares the legal frameworks for corporate reincorporations of all EU Member States, relying on a Study prepared by the authors for the European Commission and accompanied by detailed national reports. It is shown that, despite recent decisions of the Court of Justice that liberalise inbound and outbound reincorporations, several Member States still prohibit these transactions or make them impossible or impractical. Even where reincorporations are available in principle, significant legal uncertainties often exist due to a lack of clear and interoperable rules. This situation may for instance jeopardise the interests of creditors and minority shareholders of the emigrating companies in circumstances where the involved jurisdictions do not provide for an explicit regulation of cross-border reincorporations aimed at protecting these stakeholders. Furthermore, when procedural rules are unclear or lacking, companies might be struck from the relevant register of the country of origin without being entered in the register of any other Member States. We argue that, as a consequence, harmonisation of the reincorporation process is necessary, and that it is desirable to reach a high minimum standard of creditor and minority shareholder protection and define clear rules for the cancellation of companies from the domestic register.

Keywords: reincorporations, freedom of establishment, corporate mobility, comparative company law, Court of Justice of the European Union

JEL Classification: G38, K15, K22, K34

Suggested Citation

Gerner-Beuerle, Carsten and Mucciarelli, Federico M. and Schuster, Edmund-Philipp and Siems, Mathias, Cross-Border Reincorporations in the European Union: The Case for Comprehensive Harmonisation (May 15, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3033920 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3033920

Carsten Gerner-Beuerle

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/people/carsten-gerner-beuerle

University of Notre Dame - Notre Dame Law School ( email )

Eck Hall of Law
Notre Dame, IN 46556
United States

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://https://ecgi.global/users/carsten-gerner-beuerle

Federico M. Mucciarelli

Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) - Dipartimento di Economia Marco Biagi, Modena

Viale Berengario 51
Modena, Modena 41121
Italy

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://https://ecgi.global/users/federico-mucciarelli

Edmund-Philipp Schuster

London School of Economics - Law School ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Mathias Siems (Contact Author)

European University Institute (EUI) ( email )

Via Bolognese 156 (Villa Salviati)
Firenze, 50139
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.eui.eu/siems

University of Cambridge - Centre for Business Research ( email )

Top Floor, Judge Business School Building
Trumpington Street
Cambridge, CB2 1AG
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/people/research-associates/mathias-m-siems/

European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
Rue Ducale 1 Hertogsstraat
1000 Brussels
Belgium

HOME PAGE: http://ecgi.global/users/mathias-siems

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