Topic Information obligations for issuers Notification obligation on first time admission of shares to trading on an organised market (section 33 (2) of the WpHG)
Article from Issuer Guidelines published by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority
When a company is first admitted to trading on an organised market and the Federal Republic of Germany is its home country, a notification obligation arises under section 33 (2) of the WpHG for shareholders holding an interest of 3% or more of the voting rights at the date of initial admission of the shares of this issuer to trading on an organised market. The date of initial admission to trading of the shares is decisive, not the date of the first quotation. The date of initial admission to trading is stated in the authorisation decision of the stock exchange.
If shares are already acquired or sold on the date of initial admission to trading, for example by assigning the delivery claim, same-day netting can be performed here. Thus, it is not necessary to first file an initial voting rights notification at the “date of initial admission to trading” under section 33 (2) of the WpHG and then to file another notification under section 33 of the WpHG that a threshold has been triggered later on the date of initial admission to trading. The initial admission of shares to trading on an organised market must be disclosed as an “Other reason” in the voting rights notification.
