Arbitration Board at BaFin

The responsibilities of the Arbitration Board at BaFin were expanded in 2016 by way of section 14 of the German Injunctions Act (Unterlassungsklagengesetz). Since then, BaFin’s Arbitration Board has dealt not only with disputes in connection with the German Investment Code (Kapitalanlagengesetzbuch), but also with disputes relating to banking transactions and financial services subject to the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz) that are provided by institutions supervised by BaFin. However, it only does so if no recognised private dispute resolution entity is responsible. The volume of dispute resolution activity has risen as a result. The Arbitration Board publishes an activity report on this work on its website at www.bafin.de/schlichtungsstelle as at 1 February of each year (only available in German).

Information requirements for companies regarding dispute resolution

The German Act on Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz) and the German Regulation on Financial Dispute Resolution Entities (Finanzschlichtungsstellenverordnung) set new standards for the information requirements of companies. They specify, among other things, that companies must provide clear and understandable information on their website and in their general terms and conditions about the extent to which they are prepared to engage in out-of-court dispute resolution. The Arbitration Board at BaFin continues to cooperate with other dispute resolution entities on these and other issues at a national and international level.