ECHOS Holding AG failed to publish the total number of voting rights held by shareholders in the company within the prescribed period.

In addition, the company failed to publish its half-yearly financial reports for the financial years 2020 and 2021 within the prescribed period.

The company also failed to publish an announcement, or failed to publish an announcement within the prescribed period, stating the date from which and the website on which the half-yearly financial reports for the financial years 2020 and 2021 and the annual financial report for the financial year 2021 were made publicly available.

Voting rights notification requirements

Companies such as ECHOS Holding AG that are domiciled in Germany and that issue securities that are traded on an organised market in Germany are required to publish the total number of voting rights within two trading days if there is an increase or decrease in the number voting rights.

This is essential to support shareholders since it allows them to calculate their share of voting rights in the company without having to ascertain the necessary total number of voting rights themselves.

Failure to publish the total number of voting rights within the prescribed period constitutes a contravention of the requirements of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz). BaFin may impose administrative fines on companies that fail to comply with these requirements. The maximum amount for this fine is 10 million euros or up to 5% of total revenue.

Financial reporting requirements

Financial reports provide information on companies’ assets, financial position and results of operations. This information is important to investors because it allows them to make informed investment decisions. Companies such as ECHOS Holding AG that are domiciled in Germany and that issue securities that are traded on an organised market in Germany must regularly publish such financial reports in the Company Register (Unternehmensregister). They must also publish announcements stating when and where their financial reports are made publicly available in addition to their availability in the Company Register.

This announcement must be published no later than three months following the end of the relevant reporting period; for annual financial reports, the announcement must be published no later than four months following the end of the relevant reporting period. Failure to publish financial reports and announcements stating when and where these reports are made publicly available, or failure to publish such reports and announcements within the prescribed period, constitutes a contravention of sections 114 et seq. of the WpHG. BaFin may impose administrative fines on companies that fail to comply with these requirements. The maximum amount for this fine is 10 million euros or up to 5% of total revenue.