Federal Court of Justice Decision of December 17, 2013

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) clarified in a recent decision dated December 17, 2013 (II ZB 6/13) that foreign notaries can also submit shareholder lists and that the effectiveness of foreign notarizations has not changed under the MoMiG. The key points of the decision, which is intended for publication, are as follows:

• The registry court may not reject a shareholder list submitted to the commercial register solely because it was submitted by a notary based in Basel, Switzerland.
   

• A notarization required under the GmbHG can also be performed by a foreign notary after the entry into force of the Act to Modernize the Law on Private Limited Companies and to Combat Abuses (MoMiG), provided that the foreign notarization is equivalent to the German notarization (continuation of BGH, decision of February 16, 1981 - II ZB 8/80, BGHZ 80, 76).

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