Germany wants to make stocks, start-ups, IPOs and SPACs more attractive

German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann speaks to the media during a news conference on key points of the Capital Markets Modernization Act, in Berlin, Germany June 29, 2022. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

BERLIN, June 29 (Reuters) – Germany’s finance and justice ministers on Wednesday presented a plan to make the country’s financial markets more attractive to investors and improve access to capital for start-ups and businesses. growing businesses.

The plan included provisions to lower the minimum capital required for an IPO to 1 million euros ($1.05 million) from the current 1.25 million, and to increase the tax exemption for shareholding employee at 5,000 euros against 1,440 euros.

“Securities are not something for millionaires. Securities are something for millions (of people),” Finance Minister Christian Lindner told a news conference.

“We want to make Germany the premier location for start-ups and growing businesses,” Lindner added. “That’s why we’re improving access to the capital market and making it easier to raise equity.”

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said the legal framework for shareholding should also be digitized, as too much still depends on written documents and there is still an “almost erotic relationship with paper” in Germany.

The plans would also aim to improve conditions for SPACs or special purpose acquisition companies. Vehicles raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO), place them in a trust, and then aim to merge with a private company and take it public.

Ministers want the plan to come into effect in autumn 2023.

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Writing by Paul Carrel, editing by Miranda Murray and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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