IPG is often seen as an opportunity for certain kind of clients who have or are willing to develop their business abroad. Let us take some examples :
Starting a business abroad: a medium size German company wishes get into a new market abroad, in France for example. It would probably first look for a local, French based sales person to investigate the targeted country to make sure that there is a market. At this very early stage, the client would need either a work contract or a service contract to be drafted in conformity with French law and, if possible, with the laws of Germany (in case of a service contract). It will need to be pointed out to the client that the laws of France offer a strong indemnity in case of termination of a trade agent contract compared to their usual experience and a proper contract is therefore essential. This complexity will definitely require the assistance of a local lawyer. Thanks to the IPG connexions that our legal members have, the advice can be very quickly given to the client to help him make a decision. Local tax compliance (such as salary slips and other formalities and declarations with local authorities) will have to be undertaken; therefore an accountant is obviously needed and an IPG member can be recommended. After a period of trading and if this preliminary stage is satisfactory, the German company may decide to invest more and have a permanent place of business in France and shall need to make a decision: is it simply going to register a branch or will it set up a local company? What are the local requirements? Important legal and tax issues are obviously involved. On an on-going basis the assistance of lawyers, accountants and tax experts will be regularly needed. It will be a great advantage for the lawyer and/or the accountant in Germany to be able to refer other professionals that he knows and trusts to his client. Without all this possible assistance, the decision process will be certainly more difficult and perhaps have unintended consequences. Hopefully this way the client will be able to concentrate on the business and be happy that they have the structure to suit them.
Instead of setting up a business of its own, a Dutch company may wish to have distributors in different countries, whether in the European Union or in places such as India, Mexico or the USA. Most of the time, the company will use the contract drafted by its own lawyer and provide that in any circumstances the place of the distributor will be the relevant jurisdiction and that the applicable law will be Dutch, ignoring the differences of laws and regulations in these countries. It is not the case that because the law has been, to a certain extent, harmonized in the States of the European Union, that situations are the same in all member States. It is even more different in non-EU countries. The question of termination of a distribution contract is certainly one of the most important ones. Many states have adopted protective measures for the distributor. It could be a terrible mistake to provide that Dutch law shall be the only applicable law. Henceforth, the situation should be carefully examined in each concerned country.
International transactions: acquisition of a business abroad will of course require the technical expertise and the experience of lawyers, accountants and tax advisers. IPG members can provide all three services to help and accompany decision makers all the way through. This is not only limited to big acquisitions. Experience shows that even acquiring a small business can be a source of problems if not undertaken with the correct professional advice.
Debt collections: any company making sales of goods or services in another country will have to face a situation where its invoices remain unpaid. Instead of wasting any more time and money with useless reminders of specialised "debt recovering agencies," an IPG fellow member situated in the country where the debtor resides will provide him with the most appropriate way to recover the debt – taking into account the amount due and the budget of the client.
