BaFin approved a total of 1,405 securities prospectuses, registration documents and supplements in 2017. This was an approximately 15 percent decline in the number of approvals compared with the previous year (1,652; see Table 25 "Number of approvals in 2017 and 2016").

254 of the 301 prospectuses approved in 2017 were prospectuses for the issuance programmes of large issuers (banks, savings banks). The total number of base prospectuses decreased and, in line with it, the number of supplements also declined. Most supplements are approved for the base prospectuses of large issuers in order to keep them up to date during the period of validity of the prospectuses.

Despite the fall in the number of prospectuses approved in 2017, the total number of final terms filed indicates that the banks engaged in lively issuance activity. The number of final terms increased from 3,260,884 in 2016 to 3,491,583.

Table 25 Number of approvals in 2017 and 2016

Number of approvals in 2017 and 2016

BaFin

The number of notifications BaFin transmitted to other national supervisory authorities, e.g. in Austria and Luxembourg, under the European Passport declined for the first time since 2014 (3,143; previous year: 3,935). The number of notifications received also decreased to 692 (previous year: 849). Over 60 percent of the notifications came from Luxembourg.

Due to the rise in the number of final terms filed, the total issue volume of 3,491,656 was higher than in the previous year (3,260,986).