Current case law on business valuation

Business valuations are a discipline between economics and law

Economists and lawyers also meet more and more often in courtrooms. So trustees would do well to look into the legal aspects of business valuation.

Independence in the formation audit

A simple partnership was brought into an AG to be founded (contribution in kind and acquisition in kind). The licensed audit expert R carried out an audit of the formation, but with flaws: He already had a 5% share in the simple company and also took over a share in the AG in the same amount. Furthermore, he was elected to the board of directors at the founding meeting.

Understandably, the commercial registry office expressed doubts about his independence. R stated that the mandate was a modest one, that organisational and personal separation was maintained, that he had only learned of the planned appointment on the day of the formation audit and that he would not be working for long at all. However, he did not get through to the FAOA, which withdrew his licence for two years. The fact that he resigned from the board after the order was issued did not change anything. The Federal Administrative Court initially dismissed the appeal.

Read the full article from the TREUHAND kompakt Newsletter 9|2019 (in German) here.