This volume offers a broad comparative analysis of foundational company law topics in Germany, China, Japan and South Korea. It examines issues of directors' liability and capital maintenance and analyses the role of shareholders in public companies as well as the regulation of groups of companies in these four jurisdictions.

This volume is based on presentations delivered at a symposium held in May 2015 at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. It seeks to reinvigorate the scholarly exchange which can be traced back to the late 19th century between company law academics in Germany, China, Japan and South Korea. Contributions from all four jurisdictions include papers on directors' liability and capital maintenance as well as studies of the role of shareholders in public companies and the regulation of groups of companies.

Autorentext
ist Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht in Hamburg. is emeritus Professor at the University of Tokyo and Professor at the Gakushuin University Law School, Japan. is Professor of Commercial Law at the Seoul National University School of Law, Korea. is Professor of Civil Law, Commercial and Banking Law; Fellow, Gutenberg Research College, and Director of the Center for German and International Law of Financial Services at the University of Mainz.

Inhalt
Introduction
Hideki Kanda: A Brief Guide to Japanese Company Law - Holger Fleischer: A Guide to German Company Law for International Lawyers. Distinctive Features, Particularities, Idiosyncrasies

I. Directors' Liability
Kenichi Osugi: Directors' Liability and Enforcement Mechanisms in Japan - Kyung-Hoon Chun: Corporate Opportunity Doctrine as a Basis for Directors' Liability. A New Statutory Experiment in Korea - Jianbo Lou: Ordinary Corporate Conduct Standard vs. Business Judgment Rule. A Review of Case Rulings by Beijing Courts between 2005 and 2014 - Hans Christoph Grigoleit: Directors' Liability and Enforcement Mechanisms from the German Perspective. General Structure and Key Issues

II. Capital Maintenance
Gen Goto: Legal Capital in Japan and the Influence of German Law - Andreas Cahn: Capital Maintenance - Ruoying Chen: From Legal Capital to Subscribed Capital. Capital Rule in China and its Economic Background

III. The Role of Shareholders
Gerald Spindler: The Role of Shareholders in Public Companies - Kon-Sik Kim/Moon-Hee Choi: Declining Relevance of Lawsuits on the Validity of Shareholder Resolution in Korea. A Comparative Essay - Hiroyuki Kansaku: The Role of Shareholders in Public Companies
IV. Groups of Companies
Junhai Liu: Regulation of Corporate Groups in China - Hyeok-Joon Rho: Corporate Groups in Korea. Reconciliation of Individualism with Collectivism - Eiji Takahashi: Recht und Wirklichkeit der verbundenen Unternehmen in Japan - Katja Langenbucher: Do We Need a Law of Corporate Groups?