Find Lawyers in Germany for Investment

In a broad sense Investment means the deployment of money or other resources by an investor to an asset or to a specific use in order to achieve an envisaged return. In a narrower sense Investment is the deployment of money by an investor to a financial or non-financial asset to yield a return later on. There is a wide range of objects of investments: shareholdings in companies and partnerships, financial instruments such as bonds, profit-participation rights and the like, but also tangibles, e. g. machines, or intangibles such as exploitation rights, intellectual property rights etc. Rendering legal advice on investments includes not only the legal structuring of investment vehicles such as funds, other special investment purpose vehicles or drafting the contracts and documentation governing the investment, but also advising investors or investees, respectively, before or after an investment is made to protect their interests.

Investment and financing are two sides of the same coin. Hence, attorneys advising on investments must also consider the relevant capital markets and finance law. In fact, the entire legal framework governing the specific investment must be taken into account. The respective rules may either aim at protecting investors, investees, the state, free and fair competition etc. or seek to encourage or even to discourage certain investments. In addition, there are often peculiar tax aspects affecting investments. As a consequence, multiple areas of law have to be applied and integrated when rendering legal advice on investments: corporate law issues of investment vehicles and shareholdings, capital markets and finance law governing the funding of real investments or the entering into financial investments, specific civil law and public law aspects, respectively, of the investment objects themselves, but also subsidy law, antitrust law other economic law as well as tax law aspects relevant for the specific investment. 

The law governing investments often differs greatly from one country to another. Therefore, in particular foreigners are well advised to solicit competent legal advice in this respect. As the case may be, the scope of advice needed can even be extended to a multidisciplinary approach involving also technical, financial and valuation advisory services etc.