Like capital investment law, the term capital markets law is not defined and is based on a multitude of different laws, primarily from the fields of banking, stock exchange and corporate law. We specialize in capital markets law, but have further sharpened our specialization within this area: We focus exclusively on those areas and special situations that involve the protection and enforcement of investors’ rights and claims for damages.

Shareholders can claim damages from an issuer in case of omitted, delayed or incorrect publications of inside information. The same applies if securities are offered to the public for the first time and the prospectus contains untrue or misleading information (prospectus liability). In summary, we refer to these disputes under the term ‘securities litigation’.

We are not only specialized, but also very experienced in high-scale and complex securities litigation. We were or are involved in almost all proceedings in this area of law in Germany (as well as some proceedings abroad) and have shaped the litigation landscape. The proceedings in Germany include, for example, shareholder lawsuits against German car manufacturers such as Volkswagen AG, Daimler AG or Porsche Automobil Holding SE in connection with ‘Dieselgate’, but also balance sheet manipulation cases. Examples for securities litigation in the aftermath of balance sheet manipulation are the widely known cases of Steinhoff and Wirecard. In these cases, WEISSWERT attorney Maximilian Weiss filed the first applications for the initiation of model cases under the Capital Markets Model Case Act (Kapitalanlager-Musterverfahrensgesetz – KapMuG), thus at the same time setting the course early on for a legal review of the scandals in the context of KapMuG proceedings. Litigation funding plays a significant role for securities litigation claims. Therefore, we have established connections with leading litigation funders and are happy to assist clients with receiving risk-free funding for their case.

In addition to securities litigation, we also support shareholders in related (stock corporation law) proceedings. These include actions for rescission and annulment against resolutions of the shareholders’ meeting or award proceedings (e.g. due to squeeze-outs and disputes about cash compensation) as well as other disputes under German stock corporation law. Regardless of the type of dispute, we do not act for issuers; we only and exclusively advise and represent investors.