MPI TAX

Corporate Law and Securities Regulation

Corporate law consists of the two parts corporate governance and corporate finance. As soon as a company approaches the public capital markets, it is also subject to securities regulation. While corporate law is concerned with the rights and duties of shareholders and corporate bodies within the corporation, securities regulation aims at protecting investors as well as the functioning of the market. Corporate and capital markets research at the Institute departs from the competition of legislators, which has been sparked decisively by European law. Research at the Institute is therefore first and foremost devoted to the European foundations as well as to comparative and economic analysis of corporate law and securities regulation. Furthermore, corporate law and securities regulation are both closely intertwined with accounting and tax law: Corporate and capital markets law obliges companies to prepare and publish annual accounts as well as interim reports and the like. Corporate organization, especially the choice of corporate form, has important fiscal effects for the company as well as its shareholders. Against this background, the Institute’s legal research in corporate and capital markets law strives to combine international business reality with legal doctrine as well as economic theory. This requires a functional approach, which relies on internationality as well as interdisciplinarity.

Debt, Equity and hybrid financial instruments
Tax law and corporate law as competitive factors
European Corporate law
Legal rules for closed corporations