Regulation of the ´G-REIT´ beyond investment law (DE)

IVG Immobilien AG, Deutsche Wohnen AG, and Deutsche EuroShop AG favour the clear positioning of a German REIT beyond investment law and the German “Investmentsteuergesetz“.

The three major listed German Real Estate Corporations support the ambitious plan of the German Finance Ministry regarding the introduction of a German REIT in the short term. “Abroad, great interest is being dedicated to this topic. Not only in terms of of real estate and the capital market, but also as a touchstone for the dynamism of changes in Germany at all“ reports Dr Eckart John von Freyend, CEO of IVG Immobilien AG, from his meetings with international investors.

It is only by means of an independent positioning compared to existing real estate investments, and particularly open and closed-ended funds, a German REIT will be able to obtain the required transparency and international comparability. But that is what a German REIT still needs. The relation between a REIT and the regulations of German open-ended funds would be the wrong signal to the capital market. “The stringent requirements of the German stock corporation act and the securities trading act provide transparency on the
international level. An over-regulation is opposite to the self-regulating market power“, says Claus-Matthias Böge, CEO of Deutsche EuroShop AG.

The recommendations of the Initiative Finanzstandort Deutschland (IFD) provide a good basis for the introduction of a German REIT. Andreas Lehner, CEO of Deutsche Wohnen AG: “„IFD did an excellent pioneer job which has to be substantiated by the legislator“.
In current legislation actions it is mainly essential, that the whole fiscal burden is really understood . The taxation of hidden reserves (so-called “exit-tax“), the concrete definition of an assessment basis for dividends and the taxation on the investor level build up a system, which will decide on the acceptance of a REIT. If the G-REIT will be structured accordingly and if stockholders, companies, and the public sector accept the G-REIT, public authorities, capital and real estate market and the business location Germany will profit greatly; backed up by corresponding experience coming from abroad.

Source: IVG Immobilien

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