The lending business is crucial for banks and savings banks as well as for companies. True to the adage "no money, no fun”, loans are omnipresent in the economy and indispensable for most companies. For this reason, early advice is recommended to enable or obtain solid financing. Our specialist lawyers advise banks and savings banks as well as entrepreneurs and consumers on all issues relating to the law governing credit agreements. Our advice is focussed on finding solutions that meet our clients’ interests at an early stage while bearing in mind issues relating to insolvency law.

Accordingly, our advisory activities do not begin only when a legal dispute has already arisen, but ideally earlier. We review credit agreements for our clients before they are concluded and advise on loan collateral (for example, land charges, transfer of ownership by way of security or guarantees). We are available to review interest calculations and adjustments in current credit agreements. We also assist our clients in the event of any breaches of contracts and review any termination rights and claims for damages. If a credit agreement is to be terminated early, we advise our clients with regard to any prepayment penalty.

When a credit agreement expires, it is not uncommon for the question to arise as to how the remaining receivables can be realised. We are also happy to assist our clients in the enforcement of the resulting claims. You can find more information about our activities in debt collection and enforcement on our Receivables management page.

Nowadays, only a fraction of payment transactions are cash transactions. Using bank accounts and electronic payment options creates risks that can quickly lead to litigation. This is reinforced by a large number of technical innovations and new legal requirements. For our clients, we address the issues arising from the daily current account business and payment transactions as well as the changes resulting, for example, from MiFID II. Our expert support includes subjects such as:

• Unauthorised bank transfers
• Misuse of debit cards, EC cards and credit cards
• Interbank claims
• Incorrect bank transfers
• Returned direct debits
• Bank charges
• Incorrect or omitted value dates
• Payment transactions in the event of insolvency

If investments do not perform as hoped, disputes often arise between issuers, investment advisers and customers. We represent our clients in legal matters relating to investment advice and capital investments and advise on claims based on alleged incorrect investment advice. Litigation arising from asset management contracts is also part of our practice. Our expertise includes legal disputes regarding:

• Share transactions
• Closed- and open-ended funds
• Bonds
• Swap transactions
• Digital currencies

The financial sector has become increasingly regulated in the wake of financial crises, and further amendments and additions to the regulations lie ahead. As a result, questions about financial supervision continue to arise outside the traditional banking sector as well. Our specialist lawyers assist banks, savings banks and companies in dealing with regulatory issues. Our advice includes not only the assessment of whether the intended activities of our clients are permissible under supervisory law, but also which requirements have to be met. In addition to capital adequacy requirements (CRR-VO), our advice also covers the structural requirements (MaRisk) our clients from the banking sector need to fulfil.

While factoring and leasing are widely used means of financing in commercial practice, they are not regulated in law as separate types of contract. Knowledge of the relevant case law is therefore required in order to respond to legal questions concerning both forms of financing. In this regard, we advise our clients drawing upon our many years of experience in dealing with legal matters relating to factoring and leasing. We advise our clients on the drafting of agreements as well as on the execution of agreements and procedural enforcement of claims.

We are also happy to assist our clients with alternative forms of financing, such as debentures, bonds or mezzanine financing. If necessary, expertise is drawn upon from the corporate law or tax law practice areas.

Good advice on issues relating to the financing of project developers requires extensive knowledge in real estate and construction law. You benefit from the many years of experience that our specialist lawyers in project developer financing have not only in banking and capital market law, but also in real estate law and construction law.

We are the right people to contact in the event of disputes regarding the proper safeguarding of clients’ funds in accordance with the Ordinance for brokers and property developers (Makler- und Bauträgerverordnung, MaBV), in drawing down guarantees under Section 7 MaBV or calling on warranty guarantees.

Everyone was talking about data protection in 2018 following the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR). For companies, many questions remain after the sudden increase in reporting requirements. What data may be collected and stored? How must the data be backed up? When may data be transmitted to credit agencies such as SCHUFA? We provide our clients with advice on these issues. For banks, savings banks and companies, we answer the data protection questions that arise.

We also advise our clients on possible breaches of the EU GDPR. This includes in particular the allegation of processing incorrect information and transmitting it to credit agencies such as SCHUFA. Due to the far-reaching consequences of incorrect negative information being entered at SCHUFA, a quick and professional review is required when objections are raised relating to this, which we undertake for our clients. We not only advise our clients but also represent them both in and out of court.

Our specialist lawyers are also available to answer questions about data protection outside the area of banking and capital markets law.