The Bundesrat, the second chamber of the German Parliament, finds the governments suggestions to fight „professional claimants“ insufficient, as reported by the German Daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) in its 12 December 2008 issue.

Politicians in Germany have recently dealt with the phenomenon of socalled “professional claimants”, which are private minority shareholders who search for formal mistakes during a company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in order to block the decisions and often to obtain compensation for the abandonment of the action.

The Bundesrat has suggested that legal challenges against joint-stock companies (AGs) start directly at the Appellate Court and that fast tracking rules, which would allow companies
to implement important decisions of the AGM despite pending shareholder claims, should be
strengthened and their range of application widened. The Bundesrat has further stated
that the planned minimum share participation requirement of EUR 100 is too low to effectively block such „professional claimants“ and that such claims should not be allowed to block capital increases, as the Handelsblatt reported in its 11 December 2008 issue.

The Bundesrat has further stated that the planned minimum share participation requirement of EUR 100 is too low to effectively block such „professional claimants“ and that such claims should not be allowed to block capital increases, as the Handelsblatt reported in its 11 December 2008 issue.