Germany Weighs Tighter Rules After Geely Takes Daimler Stake<br />An Economy Ministry report to the economics committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, said on Wednesday, “Against the backdrop of the current case, the federal government<br />will examine whether the existing rules are sufficient to provide an adequate level of transparency, or if further guidelines are necessary,” according to Reuters.<br />On Wednesday, a German parliamentary committee was to question government officials on whether Geely has violated disclosure rules<br />and whether loopholes in securities trading law need to be closed, the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper reported on Tuesday.<br />Geely’s founder and main owner, Li Shufu, revealed on Friday<br />that he had built up a 9.7 percent stake in Daimler, the owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, without having previously disclosed that he had crossed regulatory thresholds of 3 percent and 5 percent.<br />The Chinese carmaker first approached Daimler in November<br />and asked it to issue shares so thatit could buy a stake, as well as for access to battery technology to help set up an electric car joint venture in Wuhan, China.<br />Germany said on Wednesday it would investigate tightening the rules<br />that govern when an investor needed to disclose a holding in a company after China’s Geely purchased a $9 billion stake in Daimler, surprising the market.
