Commercial Compliance | Fieldfisher
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Commercial Law - Compliance

In the globalised market economy, the sale of goods and services occupies a special position. At the same time, traditional commercial and distribution law is becoming increasingly complex and specialized.

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This also applies to compliance aspects that need to be taken into account in the area of value chains (such as the planned Supply Chain Act with statutory due diligence and reporting obligations to protect human rights and the environment).

Professional advice - whether on the organisation of the distribution system, regulatory issues, procurement or questions of financing and payment security - is therefore not only particularly important for your commercial success, but also and especially for avoiding compliance risks. 

In business practice, legal risks are often overlooked when drafting contracts and structuring sales.

Fieldfisher has been active in commercial and distribution law for many years. We have been developing commercially viable and legally secure solutions that enable you to implement and develop your purchasing and sales system in compliance with the law and regulations. Even if contracts contain many operational details, it is not uncommon for points requiring legal regulation to be left open and for potential liability risks such as ineffective general terms and conditions clauses or possible compensation claims by the commercial agent or sales partner to be overlooked after the contract has ended. 

Economy and Profitability

While antitrust violations and corruption risks are known as classic compliance issues in sales, new risk areas in sales are added due to constant changes in the regulatory environment. Professional advice - whether on the design of the distribution system­, regulatory issues, procurement or questions of financing and payment security - is therefore not only particularly important for your economic success, but also for avoiding compliance risks.

In business practice, legal risks are often overlooked when drafting contracts and structuring sales. Fieldfisher has been active in commercial and distribution law for many years. We develop economically viable and legally secure solutions with which you can implement and further develop your purchasing and sales system in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Even if contracts contain many operational details, it is not uncommon to leave points requiring legal regulation unresolved and overlook possible liability risks such as ineffective GTC clauses or possible compensation claims by the commercial agent or sales collaborate after the end of the contract.


We want to spare you such problems: 

Together with you, we develop a clear idea of how the opportunities and risks in a business relationship should be distributed, which problem areas exist from a compliance point of view - especially when using sales agents - and how these can be effectively countered, and implement them for you.

Procedure

Commercial compliance involves a large number of different compliance risks­, which can affect above all trading and distribution agreements and general terms and conditions of business. We also take into account the economic background, the specific subject matter of the contract as well as your business and strategic goals and determine in advance any necessary preventive measures, especially in sales. In doing so, we do not only have the regulations of the German Civil Code and the German Commercial Code in mind, but also competition, antitrust, product liability and product safety law as well as relevant special laws in the area of highly regulated products and industries.

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In the case of cross-border transactions, we take into account the regulatory and other legal peculiarities of national legal systems and applicable supranational agreements (such as UN Sales Law). This is important because many issues - such as post-contractual compensation claims or the possibilities of obtaining and enforcing titles - are linked to this. If necessary, we also involve colleagues from our other European offices, so that complex cross-border issues can be dealt with efficiently.

Range of Services

Our range of services in the area of commercial compliance covers the following topics in particular: 

  1. Identification of compliance risks in existing distribution agreements and general terms and conditions of purchase and sale and development of proposed solutions to minimize risks
  2. Compliance-compliant drafting, negotiation and termination of all types of distribution agreements in particular 
    • Commercial agent, authorized dealer/distribution, commission and franchise agreements
    • Framework supply, purchase and sales contracts
    • Work, service and cooperation contracts
    • Financing and payment security agreements
    • Factoring and forfaiting agreements
    • Consignment stock and logistics contracts
    • Definition of principles for legal action for sales intermediaries and business partners (Code of Conduct)
  3. Design and control of general terms and conditions in consideration of the consumer protection of the Geoblocking Regulation
  4. Regulatory issues of distribution
  5. Product liability, product safety law 
  6. Liability consequences in the event of non-compliance with foreign trade regulations and export and customs regulations

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