Germany is one step closer to its new  „Act on Corporate Sanctions“ !

As the bill on company sanctions was released on the 22nd of August 2019, we finally might sense the turn, which Germany is going to take through the upcoming Act itself.

The bill was long- awaited, as it should include one major change: the introduction of a new statue and thus the separation from the more general  „Act on Regulatory Offices“ („ Ordnungswidrigkeitengesetz“).

Moreover, the bill includes the introduction of the principle of legality, as well as the introduction of a „magisterial registry“ which should aim at more transparency and control through the public eye. Also, we can reason from the bill, that the amount of sanctions is going to increase. Companies with annual sales of more than 100 million Euro might face sanctions that might be up to ten percent of their annual sales. In this case, the bill also shows up ways in which the introduction of compliance measures within a company or a cooperation with the authorities may lead to mitigating effects on impending sanctions. Over that, the planned „Act on Corporate Sanctions“ shall include more details on Internal Investigations.

Generally speaking, the German Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht emphasizes the importance oft the new regulation as an incentive for companies to help „compliant behaviour“ through the introduction of compliance measures.

In regard to this background, we are curiously looking forward to the finalised Act, which is going to be passed in the upcoming months.

The new „Act on Corporate Sanctions“ states one topic of the 7th Viadrina Compliance Congress, which will take place in Berlin on the 13th to 14th of November 2019.

We are more than happy to give you the opportunity to be part of the “parliament round table“ on the topic „The new architecture of corporate sanctions“ which will be discussed with members of the German Bundestag such as Marco Luczak (Christian Democratic Union) , Dr. Manuela Rottmann (Greens), Niema Movassat ( The Left) and Dr. Eva Högl (Social Democratic Party).

In several panels we are going to elaborate on possible impacts of the upcoming “Act of Corporate Sanctions” ,as well as on challenges along the possibilities that compliance needs to face in regard to digitalization.  The conference will be rounded off through three parallel workshops. These will give you a chance to actively participate, learn on current insights and best practices by professionals on Internal Investigations, Business Partner Compliance, and Compliance Risk-Analysis.

We are looking forward to your application - the registration is open already!

The registration for representatives of the governmental sector is free of charge. Please use this link.

The registration for private applicants can be found in the following link.