DK criticizes EU Inc 28th regime insolvency chapter creditor safeguards startup financing
Germany's banks are pushing back on the EU's planned 'EU Inc.' corporate form: the German Banking Industry Committee says the draft insolvency chapter weakens creditor protection and could make startup financing harder instead of easier. Per DK statement of July 10.
The banks that would finance Europe's next generation of startups have doubts about the legal vehicle the EU wants those startups to use. The German Banking Industry Committee (Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, DK), the joint body of Germany's banking associations, published a statement on July 10 criticizing the insolvency provisions (Chapter X) in the European Parliament Legal Affairs Committee's draft report on the proposed 'EU Inc.' regulation, the so-called 28th regime for companies that the European Commission proposed in March 2026 as an optional, EU-wide corporate form. The DK's objections are specific: unclear interfaces between the new rules and national insolvency law, broad options for running an insolvency without an independent administrator, insufficient protection mechanisms for creditors, and new investment barriers created by the planned special insolvency procedure. In the DK's view, the proposals endanger legal certainty, weaken creditor protection and could make financing startups harder rather than easier. The committee argues that a workable insolvency regime needs thorough preparation and should not be introduced as part of the EU Inc. project at all. The stakes go beyond legal technicalities. EU Inc. is meant to give startups one corporate form that works across the single market, but lenders price credit based on what happens when a borrower fails. If creditor rights under the new form are seen as weaker or uncertain, that skepticism feeds directly into financing conditions for the companies the regime is designed to help. Source: DK statement via the Association of German Banks (bankenverband.de).