One week study trip through Germany
The reason for such compulsory study trips is that the Kufstein University of Applied Sciences values training highly, which is as practical as possible and looks beyond Austria's borders. The current final year group of the Corporate Restructuring degree program led the students across Germany last February. Nuremberg, Hanau, Frankfurt, Lüdinghausen, Cologne and Dusseldorf were the six cities in which the students visited and learned from companies that had recently entered a restructuring process or are involved with the topic of restructuring in some way.
Prof. Beck and Mr. Zupancic, PhD, from the Nuremberg law firm Dr. Beck & Partner explained the fundamental corporate structure of their bankruptcy law firm. Special attention was paid to the specialized departments for debtor management, table management, fiduciary accounts, consumer and business bankruptcies, and the departments for general services and economic consultancy.
The CEO of the bank Sparkasse Hanau explained a regionally working Sparkasse branch's methods and procedures when it comes to problematic loans. Additionally, the minimum risk management requirements (MaRisk) regulations and their importance in granting of credits and in-process operations were discussed.
Mr Weidtmann, head of the Commerzbank AG's Intensive Care Department, offered an insight into theoretical and practical aspects of corporate restructuring. In accordance with the MaRisk regulations, they are treating front- and back-market separately within their bank.
In Lüdinghausen, the students visited a successful corporate restructuring example, the company Vedder GmbH. The company's CEO, Mr. Lidger Dohm, explained, how the integration of the acquired business took place in Vedder GmbH's case and which advantages arose as a result.
The next stop on the students' itinerary was the Institute for International and European Insolvency Law of the University of Cologne. Professor Vallender's presentation was a very successful combination of current law and practical application cases. He discussed forum shopping (the exploitation of advantageous laws in case of competing international jurisdiction), the interpretation of the term CIMI (center of main interest) and the possibility of potentially avoiding bankruptcy proceedings abroad (particularly in England), which opened up through the law amendment to regulate corporate restructuring (ESUG).
In Dusseldorf, the business on the students' agenda was MAZARS Consulting GmbH, an internationally active, independent consulting firm represented in 82 countries all over the world. One current trend in restructuring, according to Mr. Brinkmann, PhD, is the increasing importance of compliance-related topics.
“The study trip offered a perfect combination of theoretical and practical knowledge that my students can definitely profit from long term”, said Prof. Markus W. Exler, PhD, Director of the Corporate Restructuring Master's program, about the study trip that he had organized and accompanied.