Roland M. Stein was one of the speakers of the webinar: The Importance of Compliance Programs in World Bank Projects, hosted by the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industries (ABDIB) on 26 July 2021. The panel also had as key speaker Lisa Miller, Integrity Compliance Officer at The World Bank and as a mediator Thiago Jabor Pinheiro, partner at the Brazilian law firm Mattos Filho.

Roland Stein and Bruno Galvão will be editing a column at the Brazilian legal journal JOTA. JOTA is a leading specialised legal journal in Brazil, with an average of one million readers each month.

The World Bank has published the first consultative resource on exclusion systems, giving insights about how different jurisdictions worldwide employ exclusion mechanisms to prevent certain suppliers from accessing public funds. “The Global Suspension & Debarment Directory” is based on the 2020 Global Suspension & Debarment Survey and the input of numerous experts. BLOMSTEIN Counsel Florian Wolf has contributed to the chapter on Germany.

Brazilian exporters of steel and iron, aluminium, fertilisers, and cement will have to adapt to a new export regulation in Europe. The European Commission has proposed its final draft to a new tax with major consequences for Brazilian exports, the world’s first carbon border tax called “Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism” (CBAM).

Exportadores brasileiros de aço e ferro, alumínio, fertilizantes e cimento deverão se adequar a novas regras de exportação para a Europa. A Comissão Europeia acaba de apresentar sua proposta final de uma nova taxação que trará grandes consequências a exportadores, o primeiro imposto aduaneiro de carbono do mundo – o mecanismo de ajustamento das emissões de carbono nas fronteiras, em inglês Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

BLOMSTEIN has advised Zoom Video Communications Inc. (Zoom) on the German foreign direct investment aspects of the direct acquisition of 100% of the shares of the language processing software and services company Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – kites GmbH (kites).

As of 1 July 2021, BLOMSTEIN has appointed Florian Wolf as the firm’s first counsel.

Florian Wolf (36) has been an integral part of the BLOMSTEIN team since the firm was founded in spring 2016. He advises international clients on all public procurement and foreign trade issues. Highlights of his public procurement practice to date include advising the successful bidding consortium Kapsch TrafficCom and CTS EVENTIM in the public procurement procedure of the German Federal Ministry of Transport for the collection of car tolls as well as representing German Naval Yards Kiel and FSG in various maritime procurement review proceedings. He has also represented one of the largest European construction companies before various higher regional courts. His foreign trade law practice is characterised by advising various IT, high-tech and industrial companies on sanctions and export control law with regard to the import and export of goods and technology as well as the provision of services abroad.

The 17th Amendment of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung, AWV) came into force on 1 May 2021 and forms part of a series of measures aimed at increasing investment control in Germany. The Amendment introduces changes to the legal regime for foreign direct investment, particularly with regard to atypical forms of acquisitions as well as procedural aspects of the regime. In addition to the expansion of the case groups that may be subject to cross-sectoral examination (see 1st Briefing of the FDI Briefing Series), the adjustment of the thresholds for voting rights and changes to the sector-specific review (see 2nd Briefing of the FDI Briefing Series), the Amendment aligns the law with established practice. It makes changes to atypical forms of acquisitions and introduces an intra-group exemption. Further, it includes a transitional provision aimed at providing clarity on the applicability of the newly amended Sections of the AWV.

The 17th Amendment of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (Außenwirtschaftsverordnung, AWV) came into force on 1 May 2021. It forms part of a series of measures, including the Amendments of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act (Außenwirtschaftsgesetz, AWG) as well as the 15th and 16th Amendments of the AWV, aimed at tightening rules on foreign direct investment. As a result, more investment projects may be subject to the reporting obligation, leading to a potential increase in restrictions for or prohibitions of acquisitions. In our first briefing, we summarised the expansion of case groups that may be subject to cross-sectoral examination. This second part of our three-part briefing series on foreign direct investment deals with the increased thresholds relevant for the cross-sectoral review of corporate acquisitions. In addition, this briefing summarises the changes to the sector-specific examination, according to which the entire defence sector (all goods listed in Part I Section A of the Export List) is now subject to the investment control regime.

BLOMSTEIN has advised the 3D Systems Corporation (3D Systems) on the German foreign direct investment aspects of the indirect acquisition of 100% of the shares of the German 3D-printing software company Additive Works GmbH.