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mixins.searchInfo_searchTermApply for a clearance certificate for investments in German companies

Apply for a clearance certificate for investments in German companies

Source: Serviceportal Rheinland-Pfalz

If you want to invest in a German company in an area that is not subject to notification and are not based in the European Union (EU) or a member state of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) can examine your investment and issue a clearance certificate, prohibit the investment or attach conditions to it. If there is no obligation to register and you want legal certainty at an early stage, you can apply for a clearance certificate from the BMWE in advance. This certificate provides you with legally binding confirmation that there are no objections to your investment.

The BMWE can check whether your investment is likely to impair the essential security interests of Germany or the public order or security of Germany or the European Union (EU). Whether you have to report your investment to the BMWE - in other words, whether there is an obligation to report - depends on what kind of German company you want to invest in.

  • If you are based outside Germany and want to invest in a company in a particularly security-sensitive sector, you must report the acquisition if you hold 10 percent or more of the voting rights and the BMWE may initiate an investigation. This includes, for example, companies from the defense industry or IT security.
  • If you are based outside the EU or EFTA and wish to invest in a German company that is part of the critical infrastructure or provides other particularly security-relevant services, you must report the acquisition if you hold 10 percent or more of the voting rights and the BMWE may initiate an investigation. This includes, for example, particularly important companies in the energy, water, food, information technology, telecommunications, health, finance, insurance, transportation and traffic sectors, as well as media companies.
  • If you are based outside the EU or EFTA and wish to invest in a German company that provides other security-related services, you must report the acquisition if you hold 20 percent or more of the voting rights and the BMWE may initiate an investigation. This includes, for example, manufacturers of particularly important medicines and companies that are active in the field of particularly important key technologies.
  • If you are based outside the EU or EFTA and want to invest in another German company, you do not have to report the acquisition. Irrespective of this, the BMWE can initiate an examination if 25 percent of the voting rights are acquired within 5 years. In order to obtain clarity more quickly as to whether your acquisition is likely to be impaired, you can submit a voluntary application for a clearance certificate yourself.
  • You will then usually receive a decision from the BMWE within a maximum of 6 months. Most examination procedures can be completed within 2 months. In individual cases, however, it may take considerably longer.

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