Vale: Increasing Corporate Mobility from Outbound to Inbound Cross-Border Conversion?

On 12 July 2012, the Court of Justice of the European Union rendered a judgment in the Vale case. With this judgment, an important further step has been taken with respect to cross-border restructurings within the EU, especially with respect to crossborder conversions. In 2008, the EU Court rendered a judgment in the Cartesio case in which it considered that the cross-border transfer of the seat of a company within the Member States falls within the scope of the freedom of establishment 'to the extent that it is permitted under that law - the law of the Host Member State - to do so'. In Vale, the EU Court has given a clear answer to the meaning of those latter words.