Germany Weighs Tighter Rules After Geely Takes Daimler Stake
An Economy Ministry report to the economics committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, said on Wednesday, “Against the backdrop of the current case, the federal government
will examine whether the existing rules are sufficient to provide an adequate level of transparency, or if further guidelines are necessary,” according to Reuters.
On Wednesday, a German parliamentary committee was to question government officials on whether Geely has violated disclosure rules
and whether loopholes in securities trading law need to be closed, the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Geely’s founder and main owner, Li Shufu, revealed on Friday
that he had built up a 9.7 percent stake in Daimler, the owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, without having previously disclosed that he had crossed regulatory thresholds of 3 percent and 5 percent.
The Chinese carmaker first approached Daimler in November
and asked it to issue shares so thatit could buy a stake, as well as for access to battery technology to help set up an electric car joint venture in Wuhan, China.
Germany said on Wednesday it would investigate tightening the rules
that govern when an investor needed to disclose a holding in a company after China’s Geely purchased a $9 billion stake in Daimler, surprising the market.