Jurisdiction

Germany: investor claims and enforcement

Germany sits inside the EU's mutual recognition regime, but recognition is not automatic execution. A foreign judgment can move here without formal exequatur only under specific EU or convention tracks. Outside those tracks, recognition and enforcement are two separate legal steps. For an investor, that gap is where months are lost. See how this jurisdiction fits within the broader overview of jurisdictions.

Recognition in and out

Recognition into Germany follows two tracks. Judgments from other EU states need no exequatur and move directly to enforcement under the mutual EU regime. Judgments from outside that regime are recognized automatically under section 328 ZPO, but enforcement still needs a separate exequatur suit before a Landgericht, with a fixed fee under fee-table item 1510. Germany is also within the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention through the EU's accession on 29 August 2022, in force since 1 September 2023. Documents used here need authentication under the 1961 Apostille Convention, in force since 13 February 1966. Outgoing enforcement runs a separate route. From Germany into Luxembourg, see enforcement from Germany to Luxembourg. For enforcement into Germany, see enforcement into Germany.

Asset classes that concentrate here

German-law investment structures concentrate in crowd-funded instruments (Schwarmfinanzierung), subordinated loans, and minority stakes in GmbH vehicles. These structures often sit inside cross-border groups, with holding entities placed in neighboring markets such as the Netherlands. When a platform stops paying out or a company refuses redemption, the investor side needs to reconstruct who signed what and where the money actually moved. Two recurring questions come up in these cases. One is how to demand money back once crowdinvesting payments stop. The other is how the burden of proof works once payments stop.

What to secure early

Before contacting the counterparty, collect the subscription agreement, the payment records, and every message referencing the refusal. Get a current extract from the commercial register (Handelsregister) showing current control and shareholding. If the underlying claim is a judgment or arbitral award, note the date it became final. German law gives thirty years from that date to enforce the underlying right, including arbitral awards; filing the exequatur suit suspends that period. Whether an interim measure to freeze assets or block a transfer is available here depends on the specifics of the file. Early evidence steps are set out in preserving evidence in the first week after non-payment.

Working with local counsel

The exequatur suit runs before a German court, so locally admitted counsel handles that filing. Our role is coordinating the evidence and the cross-border file, then instructing counsel where the suit is filed. There is no result-only fee here, and the entity behind this work can be checked in the public register linked below. Verify any firm in this space the same way, using this guide to checking a law firm.