News

Oppenhoff boosts its Corporate/M&A practice with the next partner addition within a few weeks: Dr Regina Engelstädter joined from Paul Hastings as of April 15, 2024, and works in Oppenhoff's Frankfurt office. In early March, Dr. Barnim von den Steinen had joined the Oppenhoff office in Frankfurt.

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The AI Act contains a comprehensive regulatory programme for providers of high-risk AI systems. Providers of AI systems would therefore be well advised to take measures to avoid falling under the scope of application of high-risk AI systems. According to the exemption codified in Art. 6 (3) AI Act, AI systems that would generally be categorised as high-risk AI systems under Art. 6 (1) AI Act are exempt from this categorisation according to certain criteria. Here, we report on a first possible way of avoiding falling under the corresponding area of application. A further way of avoiding falling under the scope of application of high-risk AI systems is provided by Art. 25 (1) AI Act for providers of AI systems that have been placed on the market or put into operation.

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Oppenhoff has advised SnowWorld International B.V. on the increase in the equity interest in Alpenpark Neuss, which includes the indoo ski centre Neuss, to 100 percent. The founders August Pollen and Johannes Janz had already brought the SnowWorld Group on board as a strategic partner in 2018, initially with 25 percent and subsequently with 66 percent. Oppenhoff had advised on both, the initial investment and the increase in the majority stake.

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Oppenhoff has advised the transport network operator of the WIGA Group on a transaction with which the German state is gaining greater influence over the gas transport network in Europe. Gascade Gastransport GmbH is part of the WIGA Group, which was previously held in a joint venture by Wintershall Dea AG and SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH. SEFE, as a state-owned energy company, has now acquired the shares of Wintershall Dea AG.

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Shortly after the Digital Markets Act ("DMA") was activated at the beginning of March, the EU-Commission is already flexing its muscles: On 25 March 2024, the EU-Commission opened a total of five investigations against the three companies Alphabet, Apple and Meta classified as "gatekeepers" on suspicion of inadequate implementation of the obligations imposed on them by the DMA. The gatekeepers now face substantial fines. In addition, affected companies and users could actively claim their DMA rights and, if necessary, enforce them in court.

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We have compiled important and exciting new developments and case law on IT law and data protection for you. We hope you enjoy reading it!

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Labour law is currently showing its most dynamic side: On 13 March 2024, the European Parliament adopted the world's first statutory regulation on artificial intelligence (AI). The AI Regulation provides the legal framework for the future use of AI in Europe and ensures that manufacturers and users of AI systems respect fundamental rights, security and ethical principles in the European Union. The use of AI has long been a concern for companies in almost all sectors. It was therefore only a matter of time before the first court ruling on labour law issues relating to the use of AI was pronounced.

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One of the reform projects in the UK aims to abolish remittance basis taxation and replace it with a system designed to boost investment and consumption in the UK. This move could affect millions of taxpayers who do not live only in the UK and who earn income outside the UK.

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The European legal framework for due diligence obligations in supply chains is now likely to come in a watered-down version. In the Council of the European Union, the majority of EU member states have agreed on a directive on supply chain compliance (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive/ CSDDD or CS3D for short) after initially failing to reach agreement at the European level.

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The EU Parliament adopted the AI Act on Wednesday, 13 March 2024. It now only needs to be confirmed by the Council. The AI Act could therefore come into force in June 2024. Many provisions have been postponed in the EU Parliament's revised version. This makes it all the more worthwhile to take a closer look at the updated text of the regulation.

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The EU is moving forward with ESG regulation. In the future, the ban on products manufactured using forced labor will prevent products manufactured using forced labor from being placed and made available on the EU market or exported from the EU.

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Oppenhoff gains Dr. Barnim von den Steinen as a new corporate partner for the Frankfurt office. He transferred from Rotthege on 1 March 2024.

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The German Lobby Register Act (Lobbyregistergesetz, LobbyRG) has been in force since 1 January 2022. According to this, lobbyists who contact members of the Bundestag or the Federal Government in order to directly or indirectly influence their decision-making processes are obliged to register in the publicly accessible lobby register. Further information can be found in our article "Lobby register: who does it affect and what needs to be done?" Statutory amendments to the LobbyRG enter into force on 1 March 2024. Their aim is to further tighten the scope of application and disclosure requirements and thus increase the informative value of the lobby register.

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The EU has adopted the thirteenth package of sanctions against Russia. In time for the second anniversary of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the representatives of the 27 EU member states have imposed additional sanctions against Russia. Around 200 individuals, companies and organisations are affected.

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At the beginning of the legislative period, the Federal Government announced a comprehensive reform of family law and set itself the goal of adapting family law to social reality and extensively modernising it.

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Oppenhoff advised the industrial insurance broker MRH Trowe on an upsizing of the existing unitranche financing to provide funding for the group’s next step of its growth story.

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Oppenhoff has advised the BMV Group on the accession of three further medium-sized building materials dealers. Last year, the law firm had already advised the BMV Group on its reorganisation and the takeover of the von den Hoff Group.

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Oppenhoff has advised KNDS N.V. on a cornerstone investment in connection with the listing of RENK Group AG at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. KNDS has acquired a 6.7 percent stake in RENK.

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Extensive and diverse reforms to family law were already announced in the coalition agree-ment between the SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and the FDP. These reform plans are now being specified in greater detail with regard to parentage and filiation law - Federal Minister of Justice Dr. Marco Buschmann presented two key issues papers in mid-January that contain concrete proposals for modernising family law.

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Oppenhoff has advised the AustriaEnergy Group on the expansion and structuring in two phases of the Joint Venture for HNH Energy in Chile, one of the world's largest Power-to-X projects for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia with a potential aggregate capacity of 5GW of wind.

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Oppenhoff has once again comprehensively advised the EIC Fund on its German investments. This time, the EIC Fund invested together with Dr. Hans Riegel Holding GmbH (one of the two shareholder holding companies of the Haribo Group) and REWE in the Hamburg biotech start-up Infinite Roots. The investment was in the form of an equity investment under the "Horizon Europe Programme" as part of a second closing of the Series B financing round.

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Oppenhoff partner Dr. Nefail Berjasevic has been awarded the academic title of Honorary Professor by the University of Siegen. The prestigious award recognises his professional practice and, in particular, his outstanding achievements in teaching and research.

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CBAM, LkSG, CSRD, Deforestation Regulation: The year 2024 will continue to be characterized by ESG regulation. Companies will need to keep track of the many new obligations and incorporate them into their compliance systems in a timely manner. Below is an overview of the key issues.

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The 7th MaRisk Amendment specifies the handling of ESG risks in lending decisions. Borrowers must now provide information on potential ESG risks during the approval process.

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The New York Times recently filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI. The reason: possible copyright infringements through the use of millions of articles from the New York Times to train ChatGPT. This lawsuit gives cause to consider whether the unlawful processing of data in the design, training or operation phases of artificial intelligence (AI) systems requires that the models be retrained or whether alternative solutions are available

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