Monthly Dose of Germany: September 2025

Authors: Dr. Lars Hinrichs, Leonie Scharwächter, Elisa Ultsch, Katharina Gohlke, Katja Sartori-Röthke

Sound Compensation in drafts of BRUBEG and VerbraucherkreditG

The sound compensation merry-go-round will continue to turn in 2025: On 22 August 2025, the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) published the draft bill for the implementation of Directives (EU) 2024/1619 (CRD VI) and 2024/1174 (BRUBEG), and on 3 September 2025 (following the previous draft by the German Federal Ministry of Justice dated 23 June 2025), the German Federal Government published the draft law implementing Directive (EU) 2023/2225 on consumer credit agreements (VerbraucherkreditG). Both drafts also contain updates on remuneration systems and remuneration governance in institutions. In this Client Alert, we summarise the material changes to the German Ordinance for Remuneration systems in institutions (Institutsvergütungsverordnung, IVV) and the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz, KWG) proposed in the drafts.

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Authors: Christopher Eduard Bösch and Dr. Till Contzen

A central component of the European data strategy is Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Data Act’), which entered into force on 11 January 2024. Of the eleven chapters of the Data Act, the requirements for ‘data sharing’ (in particular Chapters II to IV of the Data Act) have attracted the most attention so far (click here for our article).

In contrast, the topic of cloud switching and interoperability (in particular Chapter VI of the Data Act) has received relatively little attention to date, despite the sometimes far-reaching requirements. In view of the immediate applicability of the Data Act throughout the EU from 12 September 2025, this is likely to change. Companies are therefore well advised to consider the implications for their business models and contract design.

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Authors: Christopher Eduard Bösch and Dr. Till Contzen

The time has come!

The Data Act will be directly applicable from 12 September 2025.A critical component of the European data strategy, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2023 (the ‘Data Act’) entered into force on 11 January 2024. As of 12 September 2025, the regulations will be directly applicable throughout the EU.

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Authors: Dr. Lars Hinrichs, Elisa Ultsch and Katja Sartori-Röthke

The seventh edition of our Monthly Dose Employment Law 2025 on current case law explains the judgments of

(1) the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) dated 28.01.2025 (1 AZR 33/24) on a trade union's (non-existent) right to access employees' email addresses or the employer's internal platformaccess,

(2) of the BAG dated 29.01.2025 (4 AZR 63/24) on the scope of a collective bargaining exclusion period in a framework collective agreement referred to in an employment contract reference clause in an employment relationship of a non-tariff employee (AT-Mitarbeiter),

(3) of the BAG dated 20.02.2025 (8 AZR 61/24) on an employee's (non-existent) claim for damages under the GDPR in the event of a (solely) delay in the provision of information by the employer under the GDPR,

(4) of the BAG dated 19.03.2025 (10 AZR 67/24) on the expiry of (virtual) stock options from an employee participation programme in the event of premature termination of the employment relationship due employees’ resignation during the vesting period,

(5) of the Regional Labour (Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG) Baden-Württemberg dated 28.11.2024 (10 SA 13/24) on an employee's claim for damages under the AGG in the event of gender-based refusal to cooperate by a customer of the employer in the context of her work performance.

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Authors: Dr. Mathias Hanten and Gerhard Dengl

As anticipated, the German government immediately following the summer recess published a Draft Bill to Implementing the Sixth Capital Requirements Directive (CRD VI) (Bankenrichtlinienumsetzungs- und Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz (BRUBEG). The draft takes the form of a framework act comprising 28 articles, the majority of which are aimed at implementing CRD VI.

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In the Handelsblatt supplement "RECHTSGUIDE 2025", Deloitte Legal partner  and head of Deloitte Legal Germany's real estate practice Dr Katja Schwenzfeier, talks about the
current challenges in real estate transactions, dealing with the shortage of skilled workers, and career opportunities for women in the consulting industry.