The Limited Liability Company under German Law (the GmbH). Dr Alexander Schröder-Frerkes
towards the creditors of the company has been abolished in this regard. Instead, the ruling has established an internal, unlimited liability on the part of the shareholders towards the company to repay to the company the funds required to satisfy its creditors and to maintain its operations. The creditors of the company are nevertheless entitled to appropriate the internal claim of the company towards the shareholder and afterwards claim payment from the shareholder directly. In order to do so, however, the creditor would need to establish a claim against the company first and may not directly claim compensation from the shareholder.61
70. Misuse of the corporate structure
It continues to be an issue of dispute amongst legal scholars and courts whether – apart from the cases cited above – (other categories of) the misuse of the corporate structure by the shareholders gives rise to a personal and direct liability towards the creditors of the GmbH. The Federal Supreme Court has not yet issued a definite ruling on this question, nor have the lower courts reached agreement on this issue. It is therefore possible that a misuse of the corporate structure could give rise to personal liability on the part of the shareholders. However, this would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, and exceptional circumstances would certainly be a prerequisite in this regard. Furthermore, a situation involving an intervention as regards the financial situation of a GmbH which does not already fall under the situations outlined above is hardly conceivable.
1Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s47, para. 3 (FRG).
2Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s47, para. 2 (FRG).
3Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) (Civil Code) 1900, s138 (FRG).
4Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB) (Civil Code) 1900, s134 (FRG).
5Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s47, para. 4 (FRG). For details see Section 86.
6Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s51a, para. 1 (FRG).
7For details see Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, ss131, 132 (FRG).
8Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s51a, para. 2 (FRG).
9Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s51b (FRG).
10Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s29, para. 1, sentence 1 (FRG).
11Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies), 1892, s29, para. 3 (FRG).
12Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, s186 (FRG).
13Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, s241 (FRG).
14Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, s242, para. 2 (FRG) accordingly.
15Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, s243, para. 1 (FRG) accordingly.
16Aktiengesetz (AktG) (Stock Corporation Act) 1965, ss248, 249 (FRG) accordingly. For details on the challenging of shareholders’ resolutions see also Section 92 et seq.
17Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s75 (FRG).
18Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s72 (FRG).
19Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s49, para. 1 (FRG).
20Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s50, para. 1 (FRG).
21Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s50, para. 3 (FRG).
22Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s50, para. 2 (FRG).
23Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s60, para. 1, no. 3, 61; para. 1 (FRG).
24Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s61, para. 2, sentence 2 (FRG).
25Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s61, para. 2, sentence 1 (FRG).
26Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s66, para. 1 (FRG).
27Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s66, para. 2 (FRG).
28Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability Companies) 1892, s66, para. 3 (FRG).
29Gesetz betreffend die Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbHG) (Act on Limited Liability