Martin Christian Kruhl

Partner
Martin Christian Kruhl
Location
Aarhus
Language
English
Services

Martin Christian Kruhl deals primarily with financial regulation, compliance, M&A and company law. 

Martin is the partner in charge of DLA Piper Denmark’s depositary services department, which is today the largest Danish depositary for property funds, and he is also responsible for the management of the affiliated company Nordic Compliance Services A/S. 

Martin is the Money Laundering Reporting Officer of DLA Piper Denmark and, as such, he has the overall responsibility for compliance with anti-money laundering rules and for monitoring the firm’s activities, procedures and whistleblowing system. 

He has a right of audience before the Danish High Courts and is recognised by IFLR1000, Chambers and The Legal 500.  

Martin regularly provides financial regulatory advice to several financial and institutional clients, including ATP, Visa, Amazon, UBS, Royal Bank of Scotland. 

He has particular experience in the AIFM legislation. He acted for DEAS Group in 2013 in obtaining Denmark’s first authorisation under the AIFM legislation and has since advised a large number of Danish as well as non-Danish enterprises on obtaining authorisation to manage alternative investment funds.  

Martin also regularly provides AIFM advice to a large number of managers, including Koncenton, Obton, Core Property, Fokus Asset Management, Kristensen Properties, Prime Office. 

Martin has particular experience in mergers and acquisitions involving financial businesses and assists in e.g. due diligence and authorisation procedures in relation to the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.  

Martin lectures at Aarhus University in the subject Regulation of financial businesses and on the Elite Module of the master’s programme in law.  

Moreover, Martin was previously the specialist coordinator of the anti-money laundering course at the assistant-attorney programme operated by the Danish Bar and Law Society. Martin has in-depth knowledge of the anti-money laundering rules and advises a large number of clients on this area.  

Martin has authored more than 40 articles on financial regulation and company law and has written books on topics such as shareholders' agreements, limited partnership companies, investment funds and alternative investment fund managers.  

Qualifications
Education
Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (accounting)
2011
PhD, Aarhus University
2011
Admitted to the Danish Bar
2010
Master of Law, Aarhus University
2006
BSc in Business Administration and Commercial Law, Aarhus School of Business
2003
Memberships

​​Nordic Network for Company Law

Admissions
Right of audience before the Danish High Courts
2015
Experience
Recent highlights
  • ​Martin advised the Lighthouse Group on project financing and group structure in connection with the construction of Denmark’s highest residential building in Aarhus.
  • ​Martin assists Amazon and its subsidiary Twitch on an ongoing basis regarding regulatory issues to ensure that the interactive live-streaming service complies with Danish legislation, including the Payment Services Act, the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Gambling Act, etc.
  • ​Martin advised Patrizia SE in relation to its acquisition of Danish investment firm Advantage Investment Partners with a view to gaining a presence in Denmark and expanding its product portfolio. Martin’s services included conducting regulatory due diligence and implementing the subsequent integration into the Patrizia Group. 
Career highlights

​Partner, DLA Piper Denmark, since 2017 

​Partner, LETT (DLA Piper Denmark), 2016-2017 

​Attorney, LETT (DLA Piper Denmark), 2010-2016 

​Assistant Attorney, LETT (DLA Piper Denmark), 2006-2010 

Positions of trust

​Member of the Board of Directors, Terra Payment Services Denmark ApS 

Other positions

​Executive Officer, Nordic Compliance Services A/S 

​Adjunct associate professor at the Faculty of Law, Aarhus University 

Rankings
IFLR1000

Martin Christian Kruhl is recognized as 'Notable Practitioner' by IFLR1000.

"Bright, creative, has an extensive work capacity and gets the job done."

"Fast response, a high degree of knowledge and business thinking."

Legal 500

Martin is recognized by The Legal 500 within 'Banking and Finance'.

"Martin Christian Kruhl has outstanding load capacity handling everything we request in a timely manner. His advice is to the point, pragmatic and always very relevant." 

Chambers

"Martin is an extremely dedicated lawyer who is always on top of things."

"He is very qualified and professional. I can only give him my highest regards."

Insights

​​On discrepancies between shareholders’ agreements and articles of association 
​Jensen, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 3, 2007, pp. 106-124 (18 pages) ​

​What is meant by “share value”? 
​Jensen, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 1, 2008, pp. 93-117 (24 pages) 

​Some comments on limited partnership companies 
​Jensen, M. C., (published in Danish only) in the Danish weekly law reports, no. 34, 2008, pp. 269-273 (4 pages) ​​

​Shareholders’ agreements 
​Jensen, M. C., in The new Danish Companies Act (published in Danish only), Neville, M. & Engsig Sørensen, K. (eds), Djøf Forlag, 2009, pp. 181-208 (27 pages)  

​Partners’ liability - a commentary on the Danish Eastern High Court ruling referred in the Danish weekly law reports U 2009.256 ØLK 
​Jensen, M. C., (published in Danish only) in the Danish weekly law reports, 2009, pp. 138-142 (5 pages) ​​

​Partners' liability - a reply 
Jensen, M. C., (published in Danish only) in the Danish weekly law reports, 2009, pp. 240-243 (3 pages) 

​Anti-competitive agreements in M&A transactions: Background, conclusion and subsequent changes relating to the seller and purchaser 
Jensen, M. C. & Snogdal, J., (published in Danish only) in Revision og Regnskabsvæsen (a Danish accounting periodical), no. 1, 2009, pp. 50-59 (9 pages) ​

Obligation to make a general offer in the light of the Nordic Tankers decision 
​Jensen, M. C. & Jørgensen, H., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 3, 2009, pp. 45-51 (6 pages) 

​A legitimate corporate form or a legal enfant terrible? 
Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Advokaten (a Danish legal journal), 2010, pp. 38-40 (3 pages) ​​

​Mortgage companies 
Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 2, 2010, pp. 91-96 (5 pages) ​

Reform of the rules on consumer credit 
​Kruhl, M. C. & Puggaard, H., (published in Danish only) in Finans/Invest (a Danish financing journal), 2010, pp. 26-27 (2 pages) 

​Unpaid capital contribution in limited liability companies 
Jensen, M. C. & Snogdal, J., (published in Danish only) in Revision og Regnskabsvæsen (a Danish accounting periodical), no. 2, 2010, pp. 26-33 (8 pages) 

​Letters of comfort in the annual report 
Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Revision og Regnskabsvæsen (a Danish accounting periodical), no. 4, 2010, pp. 26-32 (7 pages) 

​Valuation of shares in small and medium sized enterprises: A legal perspective on valuation with a special emphasis on shareholder conflicts 
Kruhl, M. C., in Company Law and SMEs, Neville, M. & Sørensen, K. E. (eds), Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2010 

​Shareholders’ agreements 
Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2011 (355 pages) 

​Loans to shareholders and members of management 
​Børjesson, J. & Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Revision og Regnskabsvæsen (a Danish accounting periodical), no. 7, 2011, pp. 30-40 (10 pages) ​

​Limited liability companies: after the company reform in 2010 
​Kruhl, M. C. & Toftgaard, M., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 2, 2011, pp. 16-25 (10 pages) ​​

​Self-financing & merger 
Thomsen, S. H. & Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 3, 2011, pp. 54-65 (12 pages) 

​Shareholders' agreements - some comments to Søren Friis-Hansen 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 3-4, 2012, pp. 43-50 (8 pages)

​As of last Sunday, your freedom was restricted 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Danish national paper Berlingske Tidende, 2 July 2012 (1 page) 

​Investment fund law 
​Birkmose, H. S., Kruhl, M. C. & Madsen, L., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2012 (408 pages) ​​

​Limited partnership companies 
​Børjesson, J., Kruhl, M. C. & Sørensen, O. B., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2012 (160 pages) 

​Review: Tomas Krüger Andersen, Private Equity – Transactions, agreements and regulation (published in Danish only), Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag, 2013, 251 pages, ISBN 978-87-574-3227-5 

​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 4, 2013, pp. 142-146 (5 pages) ​

​Shareholders' agreements - some final comments to Søren Friis-Hansen 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 3, 2013, pp. 24-42 (19 pages) 

​Group actions and liability within the financial area 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Nordisk Tidsskrift for Selskabsret (a Scandinavian company-law periodical), no. 4, 2013, pp. 28-48 (20 pages)  

​A trustee’s weapons 
​Bech, J., Christensen, L. H. & Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Erhvervsjuridisk Tidsskrift (a Danish commercial-law periodical), no. 2, 2013, pp. 77-85 (9 pages), ET.2013.77 

​Price determination for compulsory redemption - after the supreme-court judgments in cases bankTrelleborg and Thrane & Thrane 
​Kruhl, M. C., in Companies - Current topics (published in Danish only), Neville, M. & Sørensen, K. E. (eds), Copenhagen: Djøf Forlag, 2013, pp. 361-376 (15 pages) 

​Profit sharing and profit on account in limited partnership companies 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Revision og Regnskabsvæsen (a Danish accounting periodical), no. 1, 2013, pp. 42-46 (5 pages) 

Anja Staugaard Jensen, Lise Lauridsen: Shareholders' agreements with employee shareholders 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in the Danish weekly law reports, 2014, p. 290 (1 page), U.2014B.290 

​The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority is not an arbiter of taste 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Danish business paper Børsen, 15 May 2014 

​Loans to shareholders and members of management & self-financing: in terms of company law, accounting law, the law of damages, criminal law and tax law 
​Kruhl, M. C. & Sørensen, O. B., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2014 (239 pages) 

​Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) 
Birkmose, H. S. & Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2015 (338 pages) 

​Annotations to the Danish Act on alternative investment fund managers 
Birkmose, H. S. & Kruhl, M. C., in The Karnov compilation of Danish statutes (published in Danish only), von Eyben, B., Pedersen, J. & Rørdam, T. (eds), 30th edition, Copenhagen: Karnov Group, 2015 

​Misguided ban on loans to shareholders and members of management 
Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) in Danish business paper Børsen, 20 May 2015, p. 4 (1 page) 

​AIFM handbook for the property sector: Basic and necessary book on AIFM legislation 
​Kruhl, M. C., (published in Danish only) Copenhagen: The Danish Property Federation, 2016 (111 pages)