On Tuesday, February 4th, 2020, bepartners invited to the round table discussion: "befit: Pooling Vehicle Real Estate" which was held at our firm's premises on Nordstraße 116-118 in Düsseldorf. Our partners, Alexander Skowronek and Harald Kuhn, discussed the advantages and ... (more)
In 2019 the Expo Real again opened its doors from the 7th to the 9th of October in Munich. Our partners, Dr. Carsten Bödecker and Carsten Ernst, took the chance to meet clients and discuss recent issues in person. (more)
On Tuesday, July 9th, 2019, bepartners invited to the round table discussion "befit: Annual Tax Act 2019 – Effects on fund sector" which was held at our firm's premises on Nordstraße 116 in Düsseldorf. Our partner, Alexander Skowronek, and our principal, Friederike ... (more)
Our colleagues are authors and lecturers. Publications, presentations and lectures by our colleagues:
The Global Practice Guides published by the well-know ranking firm Chambers and Partners provide expert legal commentary on the main practice areas in key jurisdictions. The guides focus on the practical legal issues affecting business and enable the reader to ... (more)
On December 10, 2019, the German Ministry of Finance published a first draft of a reform of its controlled foreign corporation (CFC) taxation. Even though Germany had already implemented CFC taxation in 1972, a reform was necessary because the existing ... (more)
The European Court of Justice ruled (ECJ 13 November 2019 – C-641/17) that the definitive withholding tax levied on German dividends received by foreign pension funds infringes the principle of the free movement of capital (Article 63 of the Treaty on the Functioning of ... (more)
We are rated in law firm rankings of internationally recognized directories.
Chambers and Partners ranks Bödecker Ernst & Partner among the leading firms for "Investment Funds: Germany" and continiously recognises our Partner, Carsten Bödecker, as "Leader in his Field".
Since 1999, Chambers and Partners have been researching the legal profession in Europe, identifying the leading lawyers and law firms through interviews with thousands of lawyers and their clients.
"The team at Bödecker Ernst & Partner all have excellent in-depth expertise in all areas of investment law and investment tax law. "
"Bödecker Ernst & Partner's approach is pragmatic and strongly solution-oriented. Enquiries are answered promptly and comprehensively."
"The law firm is commercially aware, and proactively points out issues that catch its eye."
"This law firm is a benchmark in terms of its ability to deliver to budget and overall value for money."
"The law firm has never exceeded the agreed budget. Compared to its competitors, its price-performance ratio is always excellent!"
"Carsten Bödecker is one of the best and most reliable legal experts I have met. I recommend him highly."
"Carsten Bödecker can explain even very complex issues to the client in a simple way."
"Carsten Bödecker is a very good professional and consultant, due to his extensive experience, high level of expertise, and very pleasant human qualities."
"We really appreciate the service we get from Carsten Bödecker. In addition to his expertise as such this is also about the way he communicates: sometimes lawyers can be nervous and hectic, but he is very level-headed and calm."
"The team can deliver high quality in good time."
"The practice regularly assists with real estate investments, portfolio transfers and the setting up of funds and pooling vehicles, while leading tax due diligence on AIFs with a green energy asset focus. The team also has experience in cross-border acquisition of funds."
"Carsten Bödecker specialises in fund structuring, pension scheme investments and asset acquisitions, with particular strength in regulatory and tax issues. He often acts for national and international investment funds as well as real estate clients. Carsten Bödecker has good knowledge of Luxembourg funds."
"Carsten has an excellent manner about him. When it gets to a difficult topic, he is always balanced and very calm."
"Carsten Bödecker is focused and specialised on funds work, very experienced, effective and hands-on, and very responsive."
"I really value being able to count on them regarding the delivery conditions, the deadlines they agree on and what they promise," adding that "the quality is very good and I appreciate the way they value their clients."
"The firm is really hands-on. There's never a question of waiting for days, you can call them and you will get a quick answer," adding that "the fit of the partners is perfect: they are practice-oriented and there are never any issues with onboarding."
"Reputable boutique enters the rankings on the basis of market recognition and a notable client base. Highly experienced in legal, regulatory and tax due diligence, often advising insurance groups and occupational pension schemes. Regularly assists with real estate investments and portfolio transfers and the setting-up of funds and pooling vehicles. Offers further expertise in liability risk assessments and operational topics."
"We believe Bödecker Ernst & Partner to be exceptionally well positioned regarding a fully fledged ongoing service provider during the whole life cycle of a given investment fund, may it be specialized or mutual funds."
“Clients praise Carsten Bödecker as an ‘absolute expert within the fields of German and Luxembourg investment tax law.‘“
“Carsten Bödecker is highly experienced in alternative investments and 'very calm, collected, technically very strong and very commercial in his approach' as well as 'pragmatic and practical'.“
For the sixth time in a row, Chambers Europe 2017 continues to recommend our partner Carsten Bödecker as “Leader in his Field“ for “Investment Funds: Germany“.
“Clients appreciate that he is 'always very much on top of things: reachable, responsive and responsible'.“
Chambers Europe has again recommended our partners Carsten Bödecker and Carsten Ernst as “Leaders in their Fields“ for “Investment Funds: Germany“ in its 2016 Edition.
“Interviewees note that Carsten Bödecker ‘gives understandable advice and is technically very able‘ in addition to having ‘commercial acumen‘.“
“Clients highlight that Carsten Ernst ‘understands what we need and is very proactive, always informing us of new legislation‘.“
Chambers Europe continues to recommend our partners, Dr. Carsten Bödecker and Carsten Ernst, as “Leaders in their Fields“ for “Investment Funds: Germany“.
“Carsten Ernst of Bödecker Ernst & Partner wurde von Mandanten herausgestellt als Berater mit ‚strong focus on tax law, especially concerning foreign investment funds‘.“
Once again, Chambers Europe recognizes both of our partners, Carsten Bödecker and Carsten Ernst, as “Leaders in their Fields“ for “Investment Funds: Germany“ in its 2014 edition.
We are delighted to announce that Chambers Europe 2013 recognizes both of our partners, Carsten Bödecker and Carsten Ernst, as “Leaders in their Fields“ for “Investment Funds: Germany“.
“Carsten Bödecker of Bödecker Ernst & Partner impresses clients with his expertise in investment funds, asset management, real estate and tax. As one source declared, ‘he is innovative and creative but without jeopardising what the client can do‘.“
“Carsten Ernst of Bödecker Ernst & Partner focuses on investment funds, international tax, private equity and venture capital. Clients value how ‘he is always up to date and very helpful in structuring investments in an efficient way‘.“
The legal directory Chambers and Partners rates Dr. Carsten Bödecker in the practice area “Investment Funds: Germany“ as a Leading Individual:
“Clients praise Carsten Bödecker of Bödecker Ernst & Partner as ‘an innovative lateral thinker who can provide cross-disciplinary investment advice‘.“
The World Tax Guide of the International Tax Review lists Bödecker Ernst & Partner as Top Tier Firm for Transactional Tax.
“I have always been impressed with Bödecker & Ernst's extensive knowledge of both German and US tax laws. They are able to present the issues we encounter in Germany succinctly and in a way that allows us to comprehend the issues and support us in making both good business and tax decisions on behalf of our partners.“
“We are very happy with the convenient and competent way they handle all kind of questions in a timely manner and they are always very reliable.“
“Carsten Ernst impressed us because of his comprehensive knowledge and expertise.“
„Positive, hands-on, pragmatic and client-focused.“
Legal 500 Germany recognizes Bödecker Ernst & Partner as a ‘Leading Firm’ for ‘Tax’:
“... excellent and professional firm“
“Carsten Bödecker's and Carsten Ernst's have very high expertise and understanding of the needs of the clients“
“The fund practice is ‘extremely powerful...’“
“The Tax Team is ‘exceptionally strong‘ in the field of investment products and the tax optimization thereof, and distinguishes itself by ‘delivering results within an extremely short time period‘.“
“Carsten Ernst always has ‘up-to-date expert knowledge and is able to convey this knowledge in a comprehensible manner‘.“
Sustainability is the principle according to which no more should be consumed than can be regrown, regenerated and made available again in the future. As a service provider, we are in a more comfortable position than manufacturing companies when it comes to sustainability and the environmental impact we cause. But we have also made some small adjustments:
Since establishing our firm in July 2011, we have laid the foundation for a paperless office with our digital file management system. We made this decision so that all work can also be completed from the mobile office. At the same time, we have greatly reduced our paper consumption as a result We provide our partners and employees with mineral water. We have switched from PET bottles to glass bottles. The environmental impact of using glass or PET bottles depends largely on the transportation routes. We therefore buy drinks from a manufacturer in the nearby Eifel region. Every purchasing decision for a product over 1000 euros takes into account the following characteristics: Residency of seller and manufacturer according to The Economist Group's annually published Democracy Index; use of sustainability calculators where available. Suppliers of the manufacturers, if disclosed, are also taken into account. However, we purchase products from Apple Inc. with suppliers in China. As we wish to stay in the office we rent, we as tenants have no direct influence on the environmental footprint of our building and the energy consumed. Where we can make direct decisions, we have placed the greatest emphasis on sustainability. For example, we obtain our electricity from directly marketed German wind, biogas and solar plants. For our website and other digital services, we use service providers who, according to their own information, also use electricity from renewable sources to power their servers. We have excluded flights for domestic business trips.
We live social cohesion.
The ranks of our highest career level (partners and principals) are made up of one third women and two thirds men.
We pursue our goals steadily and over the long term. The majority of us have been working together for over ten years. We have also been working with the majority of our clients for many years.
At bepartners, equal opportunities lead to equal pay. We remunerate performance according to qualifications, seniority and performance according to fixed standards and regardless of gender.
We don't offer keynote speeches on time and stress management and we don't have our own gym: but we don't actually work more than 40 hours a week on average.
We want to work profitably, but above all we want to work well. For us, working well means making the quality of our advice the benchmark for our actions. We are constantly working to ensure that we are always at the cutting edge of specialist knowledge. In addition to the billable services, we take time for this and have been using our internal wiki for collaboration and knowledge sharing since the firm was founded. We use blogs to inform each other about current case law in over a dozen periodically published professional journals. The blogs are not limited to summaries, but also contain an individual evaluation. We follow current legislative procedures from the draft bill to the law. In order to make it easier for us and our clients to work with the laws that apply in our areas of expertise, and in the spirit of a sharing economy, we create reading versions of various laws for our website, in which we have highlighted changes made by amending laws. We have also included the respective explanatory memoranda at the relevant points. The same applies to our so-called pathfinders, which we use to monitor relevant publications by the German Federal Ministry of Finance for tax law and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)for investment law and publish them on our website.
Our rules of professional conduct are also clearly communicated and organized in our wiki. Our organization for implementing the obligations to avert the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing was audited by the German Bar Association and the German Chamber of Tax Consultants and concluded without any objections.
IT security is an important component for us. We support the common encryption technologies for emails (S/MIME, PGP) and our employees' emails have a digital email signature. With digital cryptographic e-mail signatures, it is easy to prove via e-mail certificate verification whether the sender of an e-mail is really the true sender. With validated signatures, our communication partners can be sure that the content of the email has not been falsified and that they can trust the content.
Beyond these small adjustments in our firm, we strive to make a significant impact in terms of ESG. As tax and legal advisors, we have therefore discussed where we can apply a law based lever.
It is important for social cohesion in our society to have sufficient adequate housing available. 400,000 new homes per year is one of the German government's most important targets. We are a long way from achieving this. What can we do to get closer to this goal? bepartners has initiated a research project with Prof. Dr. iur. Steffen Lampert, Chair of Public Law, Finance and Tax Law at the University of Osnabrück, to identify investment-inhibiting interactions or regulatory deficits in the creation of housing and to develop proposals for improvement. The title of the research project is: "Social conservation ordinances/statutes in the tension between property guarantee, housing procurement and environmental protection". The project is expected to last 11-13 months and will begin in February 2024.
