On 12 September 2014, the Bucerius Institute for Corporate and Capital Markets Law (ICCML) extended their close cooperation with the Center for Financial Law of the Seoul National University (SNU) by inviting well known Korean professors to Hamburg for the second joint workshop of the two institutions. The main topics of discussion were fundamental questions and developments in company law from both a German and Korean perspective.
After a short opening speech from Professor Dr. Jörn Axel Kämmerer, the first session of the congress was started by Prof. Kim addressing “Dynamics of Shareholder Power in Korea.” The following presentation was given by Prof. Seibt dealing with the Siemens/Neubürger-Judgement - a frequently discussed issue in German corporate law.
The second session was started by Professor Song concerning “Dual Class Shares” which are legally permitted in Korea but forbidden under German law. Professor Dr. Rüdiger Veil initiated the last session with an empirical study considering the disclosure of major shareholdings on which he was working with known business professors. Last but not least, Professor Chun talked about the “Expected and Unexpected Roles of Independent Directors from a Korean Perspective”. The discussion after each presentation offered the possibility to gain interesting insights on a comparative legal basis. Despite the significant differences between the Korean and German jurisdictions one could not help but notice that ultimately, both systems have to deal with essentially the same questions and problems.
