Welcome to the team Britta Sturm

Since August 1, 2022, Ms. Britta Sturm strengthens our team. Until joining WZM, Ms. Sturm worked in a leading position as in-house lawyer in internationally operating credit institutions and thus gained extensive knowledge of their internal workflows and requirements.

The expertise gained from these in-house activities as well as from her work as managing director and supervisory board member in various subsidiaries belonging to DVB, coupled with her many years of experience in international projects and M&A transactions, enable Ms. Sturm to implement the needs of our clients in a targeted manner. Ms. Sturms work focuses on achieving your strategic goals and a high degree of pragmatism, without our clients having to forego the legal expertise they are accustomed to. Mutual respect plays a major role in our success.

We are happy to welcome Ms. Sturm to our team. With her, we hope to be able to meet your needs even better in the future, so that you are prepared for all legal challenges.

Amendment of the NachweisG as of 01.08.2022

With the implementation of the EU Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and foreseeable working conditions, the German legislator passed far-reaching amendments to the Verification Act (NachwG), which have been in force since 01.08.2022. The amendment made extensive changes to Section 2 (1) NachwG, according to which the employer is now obliged to set out the main contractual conditions in writing and hand them over to the employee. This applies to all employment relationships concluded from 01.08.2022.

For already existing employment relationships (so-called old contracts), the employer is obliged to hand over a transcript containing the further details not already set out in writing in the employment contracts at the latest on the seventh day after receipt of the employees request. Therefore, it is recommended that the employer already has a sample with the complete information in order to be able to provide any information in due time.

Furthermore, the obligation to provide evidence applies in an adapted form to the employment of interns (cf. Section 2 (1a) NachwG). Further modifications also apply to employment contracts of employees who are posted abroad (cf. Section 2 (2), (3) NachwG).

Employers who fail to comply with the obligation to provide proof may now also be subject to fines. Therefore, it is advisable for the employer to quickly implement the obligation to provide evidence.

WZM will be happy to advise and support you in the implementation.

Welcome to the team

Today we would like to introduce our new employee Sinem Cigdem. Sinem has a further education in business administration and will support us with her experience in the office.

We are very happy to welcome Sinem in our team.

Congratulations on the first judicial state examination

Congratulations to our employee Talisa Drescher for her excellent first judicial state exam! We are happy that you are part of our team.

Shari Seitz is a certified mediator

Our colleague Shari Seitz has become a certified mediator this week and as such supports the WZM mediation team in a leading role. If you have any questions about mediation, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Seitz directly.

Congratulations on the certification!

WZM competes in the J.P. Morgan run

Model withdrawal forms to be adapted in May

Following the entry into force of the New Deal for Consumers - EU Directive (EU) 2019/2161, there will be adjustments to the right of withdrawal that may be relevant for you. In particular, the model withdrawal form will be adjusted. From 28.05.2022, the indication of the fax number in the revocation instruction and form will be omitted. According to the current model, this must be stated "if available". Instead, the telephone number and the e-mail address must be stated in the revocation instruction. In the revocation form, in addition to the address, the e-mail address of your company is also required, but not the telephone number.

If you use the model forms, you should switch to the new model revocation instructions and the new model revocation form by the deadline of 28.05.2022 (not before!). Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

War on Ukraine - EU Regulation of February 28, 2022 entered into force today.

Council Regulation 2022/334 of 28 February 2022 amending Council Regulation (EU) No 883/2014 concerning restrictive measures in view of Russias actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine entered into force today.
On February 28, 2022, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2022/335 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP.
This decision adopted further restrictive measures prohibiting Russian air carriers, Russian-registered aircraft, and non-Russian-registered aircraft owned, chartered, or otherwise controlled by a Russian natural or legal person, entity, or body from landing on, taking off from, or overflying the territory of the Union. It also prohibits transactions with the Central Bank of Russia.
Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 has been amended as a result. New additions include the following regulations:
1. aircraft operated by Russian air carriers, including as distributors under code-share or blocked-space arrangements, aircraft registered in Russia, and aircraft not registered in Russia, owned, chartered or otherwise controlled by natural or legal persons, entities or bodies in Russia are prohibited from landing on, taking off from, or overflying the territory of the Union. This does not apply to emergency landings or emergency overflights. In addition, the competent authorities may authorize an aircraft to land, take off from, or overfly the territory of the Union if the competent authorities have determined that the landing, taking off, or overflight is necessary for humanitarian purposes or for other purposes consistent with the objectives of this Regulation.
2. transactions related to the management of reserves as well as assets of the Central Bank of Russia, including transactions with legal persons, entities or bodies acting on behalf of or at the direction of the Central Bank of Russia, shall be prohibited. By way of derogation, the competent authorities may authorize a transaction if it is strictly necessary in order to safeguard the financial stability of the Union as a whole or of the Member State concerned.
The above Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

WZM wishes Merry Christmas and a successful and happy start into the New Year

Dear Clients, Dear Business Partners, Dear Colleagues,

We would like to thank you for the good, loyal and trustful cooperation this year. Our entire team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a successful and happy start into the New Year.

This year, our annual Christmas donation supports the Frankfurt initiative "Du musst kämpfen!", which supports children with cancer and their families, as well as the work of the Dialog Museum Frankfurt.

New partner

We are very happy to welcome our colleagues Dina Ostmann and Gero Wähner as partners at WZM as of next year and would like to congratulate them.

Parental leave Sarah Adler

Dear clients, dear business partners,

as of now, our partner Sarah Adler is on parental leave and will focus on her family in the coming year.
The WZM team will of course be at your full service as usual. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dina Ostmann and/or Jesko Zahn via the known contact options.

We wish Sarah all the best and look forward to the new generation!

"Move Away Tax"

The regulations on the so-called " move away taxation" will be significantly tightened as of 01.01.2022. According to these regulations, in the case of a shareholding of at least 1% in a corporation, a disposal of the shareholding is deemed to have taken place.

The deemed capital gain will be subject to domestic taxation in the event of a relocation - or in the event of a gratuitous transfer to a person who is not subject to unlimited tax liability in Germany. According to the current legal situation, the capital gains tax is generally deferred for an unlimited period of time, without interest and without the provision of security, until the actual sale of shares, if the transferor is a citizen of an EU/EEA state and becomes subject to unlimited tax liability in another EU/EEA state after the transfer.

This "preferential treatment" of EU/EEA states will cease as of 01.01.2022.

If you have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mediation

The mediation process is a voluntary, structured and autonomous procedure. The procedure is characterized by the fact that it is future-oriented and unbiased in its results. The aim is to resolve the conflict between the parties in a sustainable manner and in the interests of both parties. The mediation process is therefore suitable in almost all areas, especially in dealing with business partners and in internal disputes, through the use of mediation, short-term achievable economic and pragmatic solutions can be created, allowing the parties to continue to work together successfully in the future without "loss of face" and to avoid costly and protracted litigation. However, mediation can also be the appropriate way to resolve disputes in the private sphere, for example in family disputes or neighborhood disputes.

The process is entirely in the hands of the parties. Due to the voluntary nature and personal responsibility of the parties, they determine the time and place of the meeting as well as the individual topics and then, with the help of the mediator, work out a solution that suits them best.

In very urgent proceedings, short-term mediation is also an option; it can be carried out more quickly and thus more cost-effectively. This is not a "light" version, but a complete mediation, which is characterized by a more extensive preliminary phase, including individual discussions, and focuses on the case in a short time frame determined by the parties, in order to help the parties find a solution even faster.

The mediator is bound to absolute confidentiality in all cases and, as an impartial moderator, is available to the parties on an equally neutral and competent basis. The mediation process takes place only between the parties and is not open to the public. The mediator guides the parties through the discussion and does not provide legal advice. He/she ensures equal flow of speech and presents the different points of view, but at no time is there an evaluation of the points of view.

Are you experiencing a conflict with a business partner or within your company? Feel free to contact us, we will support you and your conflict partner in working out a joint solution.

Electromobility: Europe-wide launch of the Volkswagen Charge & Fuel Card

WZMs legal team advised LogPay Transport Services GmbH, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, on the Europe-wide introduction of the Charge & Fuel Card. The Charge & Fuel Card enables vehicle users to obtain fuel and charging power for electric and hybrid vehicles in almost all European countries, regardless of brand. There are currently over 230,000 charging points in Europe. These can be selected via the Charge & Fuel app. The aim of the project is to expand electromobility across Europe. For this purpose, WZM coordinated the legal audit in 20 European countries. The audit covered contract law, consumer protection law and regulatory requirements. Numerous other European law firms as well as tax consultants were involved in the project.

Obligation to register in the Transparency Register - Changes 2021 - Important information for clients

The new draft for a Transparency Financial Information Act on Money Laundering (TraFinG Gw) presented by the German Federal Ministry of Finance on December 23, 2020 will impose new obligations on companies, affecting GmbHs in particular.

The new law is scheduled to come into force on August 1, 2021 and will transform the German transparency register from the previous catch-all register to a full register. The German parliament ("Bundestag") will vote on the law on June 10, 2021.

Up to now, the obligation to notify the transparency register has been deemed to have been fulfilled if the prescribed information on the beneficial owner can be found in other registers - such as the commercial register. This particularly affects limited liability companies (GmbHs), which were previously able to benefit from the notification fiction. This will change with the planned amendment to the law.

We would like to draw your attention as our client to the fact that it is necessary to take action here. As a company, you are obliged to check your obligation to be entered in the transparency register and to regularly check whether the obligation or the entry made is up to date.

We will be happy to support you in checking whether you need to take further action and in the subsequent necessary entries in the transparency register. Simply get in touch with us.

Our new lawyer Emine Kruse introduces herself

Since this month I am a part of the team of WZM. I would like to make my contribution here to providing goal-oriented and assertive legal advice. In providing legal advice, it is crucial for me to deliver tailor-made solutions for our clients and likewise to choose the right instruments to enforce our claims. If mediation does not lead to success, I feel very much at home in civil procedure law.

As a native Turkish speaker, I would also like to enrich the WZM team linguistically. I look forward to working with you.
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Bu aydan beri WZM hukuk ailesinin bir parçası olmaktan mutluyum. Burada hedef odaklı ve iddialı hukuk danışmanı olarak katkıda bulunacağım. Avukatlık danışmanlığında benim için en önemli faktör müvekkillerimize özel cözümler bulabilmek ve bu anlamda doğru enstrümanları seçebilmektir. Arabuluculuk çabalarımız bir çözüm getirmediği takdirde, medeni usul hukuğu ışığında destek olacağım.

Türk bir hukukcu olarak WZM ailesini dilsel olarakta zenginleştirmekten mutluyum.

We keep growing

Alexandra Nau joined our team in March 2021. She is a trained paralegal and now supports our office with her professional experience of more than 10 years in law firms.

We are very excited to welcome Alexandra to our team.

Further reinforcement

Emma Rakosi studies law at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and supports the WZM team in scientific research and in the office team since January 2021.

We are very excited to welcome Emma to our team.

Strengthening the team

Season Greetings

To our dear clients and business partners -

We would just like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your exceptional cooperation and trust that you have shown us during this special year.

A small gift can make a big difference!

It is for this reason that this year we have decided to support the Trösteteddys Campaing for children in difficult situations as well as the Frankfurter Verein für soziale Heimstätten e.V.

Our entire team here at WZM would like to wish you a very happy, safe and successful start to 2021.

THE M NOW IS AN A, YET IT STAYS TO BE A M

Fruit donations for Corona heroes

Our team is happy to receive fresh fruit in the office every week since the beginning of the year. Our supplier, the company Frutiful, is currently supporting nurses, doctors, paramedics and people in need in the Rhine-Main region, who have reached the edge of their stress limit due to the corona crisis. To also express our appreciation, we are very happy to support this project and sponsor a weekly fruit delivery to the nurses of the St. Joseph elderly care centre in Frankfurt.

WZM advises several private individuals

WZM advises several private individuals on the formation of a stock corporation for the acquisition of a large German advertising agency.

The lawyers of WZM represent the owner of a major car showroom

The lawyers of WZM represent the owner of a major car showroom from the Rhine-Main area in the acquisition of the majority of voting rights over another car showroom. The advice focuses on questions of corporate law and credit law.

Meeting of the Rhein Main Regional Group

On 29.01.2020 a meeting of the regional group Rhein Main of MK BauImm Mediation und Konfliktmanagement in der Bau- und Immobilienwirtschaft e.V. took place at WZM on the invitation of our construction mediator Gero M. Wähner. Following very informative keynote speeches by Ms. Lawyer and mediator Birgit Schaarschmidt on "Avoiding conflicts on construction sites through intelligent communication" and Mr. Sebastian Fellner, BCC Business Communications Consulting GmbH, on "Successful construction site communication with the neighbourhood", an exciting and lively discussion followed among the participants, including mediators, civil engineers, experts and representatives of real estate and housing construction companies and DB Netz AG.

WZM supported the sale of an Italian solar park portfolio

WZM successfully supported the sale of an Italian solar park portfolio in the three-digit million range by Luxembourg investment funds until the conclusion of the contract.

Christmas party

Following the invitation of our cooperation partner Unigarant Berlin, on the occasion of our Christmas party on December 06, 2019 we travelled to the German Capital Berlin. After a delicious buffet with Berlin and Brandenburg specialties, we headed for the roulette and poker tables, following the party motto "Casino Royal". For those who were not lucky in the game, a talented quick-draw artist painted them or they could use the photo box for joint snapshots. The celebration naturally ended on the dance floor, where the party went on until dawn.

WZM advises several shareholders

WZM advises several shareholders, managing directors and board members in status determination proceedings and in opposition proceedings against social security institutions.

Team reinforcement

Attorney Dina Ostmann has joined our team in October 2019. She recently gained experience in the Corporate/M&A team of a medium-sized Frankfurt law firm and will use her expertise primarily in corporate law issues. We are very pleased to welcome Dina Ostmann to our team and are looking forward to further expanding our corporate practice.

Company trip Amsterdam

This summer, together with our cooperation partners Unigarant Frankfurt and Unigarant Berlin, we went on a joint company trip to beautiful Amsterdam. With the best weather, we explored the sights of Amsterdam on a guided tour, enjoyed Dutch specialties and wrapped up the weekend with a convivial barbecue on the North Sea beach. This weekend together was a great experience for all of us and not only strengthened the team spirit in our own team but also extended the friendship with our cooperation partner Unigarant.