Germany’s Federal Cabinet has approved a draft Standortfördergesetz, a package intended to strengthen private investment and the country’s financial centre by improving conditions for investment in infrastructure, renewable energy and venture and growth capital, while removing what it describes as unnecessary administrative burdens for financial-market firms. The draft includes tax measures aimed at venture capital, including changes to the taxation of fund investments in commercial partnerships covered by the Investment Tax Act and a roll-over mechanism for gains on disposals of corporate shareholdings held as business assets where proceeds are reinvested. It also proposes lowering the minimum nominal value of shares to EUR 0.01 from EUR 1, a measure led by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. Amendments to the Investment Tax Act and the Capital Investment Code are designed to provide a legally secure framework for collective investment vehicles to invest in renewables and infrastructure, and the bill would remove various audit, reporting and notification duties, including ending the million-credit reporting regime and easing account opening for minors, based on proposals from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. The draft also transposes EU capital-markets acts including the EU Listing Act and requirements for a European corporate portal.

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