EuroResource—Deals And Debt, March 2015

Recent Developments

Germany—On 6 March 2015, Germany passed a law that requires some of Europe's biggest companies to give 30 percent of seats on supervisory boards to women beginning on 1 January 2016. Currently, fewer than 20 percent of the seats on German corporate boards are occupied by women. In passing the law, Germany joined a European trend to legislate a much greater role for women in boardrooms. Norway was the first European nation to legislate boardroom quotas. It has since been joined by Spain, France and Iceland, all of which set their minimums at 40 percent. Italy has a quota of one-third, Belgium of 30 percent and the Netherlands a 30 percent target (albeit nonbinding). Britain has not enacted boardroom quotas into law, but a voluntary initiative (known as the 30% Club) has helped to substantially increase women's representation in boardrooms. In the United States, women's representation has grown slightly—up to 17 percent of board seats—without legislative mandates, although growth has been extremely slow. Under the new law, approximately 100 of Germany's best-known companies must give 30 percent of their supervisory board seats to women beginning in 2016. The 30 percent mandatory quota applies to German companies listed on a regulated market (regardless of where they are listed) if they are subject to Germany's workers' parity co-participation regime, which generally applies to companies with at least 2,000 employees. Additionally, approximately 3,500 companies have a deadline of 30 September 2015 to submit plans to increase the share of women in boardroom positions (supervisory board and management board) and the two management levels below director level. In this respect, companies will be affected if they are either listed on a regulated market or are subject to Germany's workers' participation regime, which generally applies to companies with at least 500 employees. The Netherlands—On 13 March 2015, the Dutch Supreme Court clarified the extent to which individual partners of a partnership are liable for partnership obligations. In its ruling (in Dutch), the Supreme Court concluded that each of the partners of a partnership (other than a limited partnership) are jointly and severally liable for all obligations of the partnership. The Supreme Court made no distinction between founding partners and those who subsequently join the partnership. This rule creates risk for partners who join the partnership after it was...