Stock corporation law has developed as the law of industrial public corporation. Typical of the German stock corporation law is the imperatively standardized organizational structure resulting from the principle of formal statute stringency.

In recent times the stock corporation law has been reformed especially by the provisions of the Law on the Supervision and Transparency in Business Sector (KonTraG, Gesetz zur Kontrolle und Transparenz im Unternehmensbereich). Important changes relate among other things to the positioning of the supervisory board, its powers and competence, particularly its lawful exercise of functions as a supervising organ of a company. Also the Second and Third Financial Market Promotion Act (Zweite und Dritte Finanzmarktförderungsgesetz) sets new standards in the form of the German Stock Exchange Law (Börsengesetz) and through the introduction of the Securities Trading Law (Wertpapierhandelsgesetzes), which brings the German Capital market law on an international and EU guidelines compatible level.

Legal regulations under stock corporation law pertaining to groups, group accounting and intercompany agreements have become a model for development of law in general.

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