Veröffentlichungen

The CMS Corporate/M&A Group is pleased to launch the 16th edition of the European M&A Study

CMS Employment Snack

Business Breakfast vom 08. März 2023

CMS Employment Snack 

Hohe Inflation und hohe Energiekosten führen dazu, dass Lohn­ver­hand­lun­gen derzeit so hart geführt werden wie schon lange nicht mehr. Auch Streikdrohungen werden immer lauter, auf der Straße und im Betrieb. In unserem CMS Employment Snack Spezial sprechen unsere Ar­beits­rechts­exper­ten Florian Hörmann und Christoph Wolf über alles, was Ar­beit­ge­ber:in­nen wissen müssen, wenn in ihrem Betrieb gestreikt wird.

CMS Employment Snack 

CMS Employment Snack 

Some leaks can’t be fixed “Confidential information is like an ice cube... give it to the party who has no refrigerator or will not agree to keep it in one, and by the time of the trial you have just a pool of water.” This, from the so-called Spycatcher case (1987), applies well to corporate assets: fail to store them correctly and all you might have left is an expensive mess. The consequences of even a minor exposure of a trade secret can be huge. As this report reveals, the protection of trade secrets is rightly recognised by most senior executives as a priority issue. But the research also reveals gaps that leave companies unnecessarily exposed to risks. The top named threats – cybersecurity attacks and employee leaks – resonate with what we see impacting our clients. Increased home and remote working is straining security measures and employee loyalty. Added to this, an ‘innovate or die’ attitude in high­ly-com­pe­ti­ti­ve sectors can motivate new joiners to arrive with questionable material from their previous employer, or worse: outright theft between competitors. But while it is easy to focus on the lurking threats from weakened cyber security and disgruntled employees – and they are important – there are more routine actions a company can take to safeguard its secrets than just updating its IT systems or the employee handbook. Commonly, those who most need our help already have a trade secrets policy but have not properly implemented it in relation to the secret in question. Or the policy has not been updated to reflect the intangible assets the business now owns. Or protection was taken for granted. With trade secrets – which for many businesses are strategically more important than a public patent portfolio – it is always costlier and messier to find solutions after a theft or a leak. Identifying the trade secrets and the threats posed to them, combined with rigorous internal processes and well-drafted contracts, can help prevent such problems from happening. Harder, but just as necessary, is engaging hearts and minds in corporate culture, to know why trade secrets are important, why we are all are responsible for protecting them, and what may happen if we do not (to both the company and the individual). In our experience, the businesses with the strongest defences have not only thought strategically about their intangible assets and how best to protect them but are also prepared for the worst. The trick to avoiding an asset becoming a crisis is to be wise before the event.

In June 2022 five experts on hydrogen met at the CMS office in Vienna to exchange their views on the prospects of hydrogen as part of the energy tran­si­ti­on. Ear­lier in the same month, Austria presented its new hydrogen strategy based on four pillars: Climate Neutral Hydrogen, Efficient and Focused Hydrogen Use, Hydrogen Infrastructure, and International Part­ner­ships.  Hy­dro­gen is increasingly seen as one of the critical components of the energy transition. Every day brings news about cooperation agreements, start-ups, new technologies, infrastructure projects, and storage solutions. But to what extent is the hype about hydrogen justified? Is the legal framework sufficient and fu­ture-pro­of? To coincide with the recently published Austrian hydrogen strategy, a panel discussion with five distinguished experts took place in our CMS premises. After a short introduction from Marco Selenic (CMS Aus­tria), Ha­mead Ahrary (Head of the Hydrogen Division at VERBUND AG), Andreas Indinger (Head of the Center for Research and Innovation at the Austrian Energy Agency), Dalia Majumder-Russell (Partner at CMS UK), Ewald Perwög (Head of Sustainable Energy Solutions at MPREIS Warenvertriebs GmbH), and Werner Trabesinger (Head of Quantitative Products at Pexapark) shared their experience of successful hydrogen projects. Furthermore, the REPowerEU plan and its effects on the RED 2 was discussed in detail. What sort of legal background does the industry require to build and operate the necessary infrastructure? What conditions are needed for a European hydrogen economy to de­ve­lop? Pa­nelists:Ewald Perwög, MPreis - Head of Sustainable Energy SolutionsHamead Ahrary, Head Of Hydrogen Division VERBUND AGAndreas Indinger, Head of Center Research and Innovation Austrian Energy AgencyWerner Trabesinger, Head of Quantitative Products PexaparkDalia Ma­jum­der-Rus­sell, Partner, LondonThe discussion was moderated by the heads of the CMS RRH Energy & Climate Change Group, Maria Orlyk of CMS Ukraine and Thomas Hamerl of CMS Austria.

Das Thema Nachhaltigkeit ist in der Finanz- und Ver­si­che­rungs­bran­che weiter im Vormarsch und wird zu einem immer wichtigeren Faktor für den Un­ter­neh­mens­er­folg. Die Schlagwörter „Sustainable Finance“ und „Green Finance“ sind derzeit viel diskutierte Themen. Und schon bald wird Nachhaltigkeit im Vertrieb von Ver­si­che­rungs­an­la­ge­pro­duk­ten auch zur Pflicht. Denn ab 2. August 2022 müssen Ver­si­che­rungs­un­ter­neh­men und Ver­si­che­rungs­ver­mitt­ler beim Vertrieb von Ver­si­che­rungs­an­la­ge­pro­duk­ten zwin­gend In­for­ma­tio­nen über die Nach­hal­tig­keits­prä­fe­ren­zen von Kunden erfragen und diese dann bei der vorzunehmenden Eig­nungs­be­ur­tei­lung be­rück­sich­ti­gen. Der europäische Gesetzgeber hat mit der Taxonomie- und der Of­fen­le­gungs-Ver­ord­nung sowie der Änderung der De­le­gier­ten-Ver­ord­nung (EU) 2017/2359 den Rechtsrahmen dafür geschaffen.

CMS Employment Snack 

What’s next? In a world of ever-ac­ce­le­ra­ting change, staying ahead of the curve and knowing what’s next for your business or sector is essential. At CMS, we see ourselves not only as your legal advisers but also as your business partners. We work together with you to not only resolve current issues but to anticipate future challenges and innovate to meet them. With our latest publication, CMS Next, our experts will regularly offer you insights into and fresh perspectives on a range of issues that businesses have to deal with – from ESG agendas to restructuring after the pandemic or facing the digital transformation. We will also share with you more about the work that we are doing for our clients, helping them innovate, grow and mitigate risk. To be able to provide you with the best support, we immerse ourselves in your world to understand your legal needs and challenges. However, it is equally important that you know who we are and how we can work with you. So, we invite you to meet our experts and catch a glimpse of what is happening inside CMS. Enjoy reading this publication, which we will update regularly with new content. CMS Executive Team