How to create optimal conditions for more private equity and venture capital in Germany

s needs excel­lent frame­work condi­ti­ons for equity capi­tal in all areas and a clear poli­ti­cal commit­ment in this direc­tion. What would actually be desi­ra­ble is a sepa­rate legal regu­la­tion for the indus­try, a private equity law, which does exist in other count­ries. Howe­ver, this is not fore­seeable at present.

As BVK, we ther­e­fore see seve­ral measu­res as neces­sary, such as tax incen­ti­ves that mobi­lize inves­tors, more public invest­ment by KfW and the deve­lo­p­ment banks in equity capi­tal. It would also be neces­sary to rethink the issue of turno­ver taxa­tion of the funds and with regard to the tax trans­pa­rency of VC funds. Here we call for a legal regu­la­tion that does not create unju­s­ti­fied prefe­ren­tial treat­ment, but elimi­na­tes disadvantages.

In any case, it would be desi­ra­ble for the new fede­ral govern­ment to refrain from raising taxes. Encou­ra­ging are the hints we hear from the nego­tia­ti­ons regar­ding a possi­ble tax incen­tive for young SMEs inves­t­ing inten­si­vely in rese­arch and deve­lo­p­ment. This would provide the right and important impe­tus for Germany as a loca­tion for inno­va­tion, which leading econo­mists are also calling for. We see this funding as comple­men­tary to the usual project-orien­ted funding. We see another tax policy facet in the issue of so-called loss carry­for­wards for inno­va­tive start-ups, inso­far as a VC fund enters the company to increase its capi­tal. From our point of view, this regu­la­tion is simply coun­ter­pro­duc­tive. As an asso­cia­tion, we have follo­wed the path taken by poli­ti­ci­ans towards regu­la­tion via the AIFM Direc­tive and have actively and successfully contri­bu­ted to the discus­sion in the inte­rests of the indus­try. Poli­ti­ci­ans, for their part, should now act and get the neces­sary tax adjus­t­ment law on the direc­tive under­way very quickly so that a relia­ble legal basis is in place at the begin­ning of next year. 

There is more than enough poten­tial for equity capi­tal or venture capi­tal. The frame­work condi­ti­ons can either put the brakes on or provide a boost. But espe­ci­ally in times of low inte­rest rates on the one hand and also a dyna­mic econo­mic deve­lo­p­ment in Germany, compared to the rest of Europe on the other hand, we are moving in an envi­ron­ment that is attrac­tive in this respect. Let’s not forget that equity capi­tal opens up great oppor­tu­ni­ties, espe­ci­ally for SMEs, when we consider that many compa­nies will be in despe­rate need of manage­ment succes­sion in the coming years due to demo­gra­phic trends.

It is also important to conti­nue working on conso­li­da­ting the inter­na­tio­nal pene­tra­tion of the German-spea­king private equity region, i.e. in coope­ra­tion with Austria and Switz­er­land, the so-called DACH region. If we think about the export market, we need co-invest­ments here. In terms of approach, BVK will conti­nue to conti­nuously fulfill two exis­ten­tial elements for its members: First, stra­te­gic commu­ni­ca­tion with poli­cy­ma­kers at all levels, and second, promo­ting equity capi­tal and its oppor­tu­ni­ties in the busi­ness marketplace.