The company also failed to publish announcements stating the date and the website on which the half-yearly financial report for the financial year 2021 and the annual financial report for the financial year 2021 were made publicly available.

The individual concerned has lodged an appeal against the administrative fine order.

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

These announcements must be published no later than three months (half-yearly financial reports) and no later than four months (annual financial reports) after the end of the relevant reporting period. Failure to publish financial reports and the corresponding announcements, or failure to publish them within the prescribed period, constitutes a breach of the requirements of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG).

BaFin may impose administrative fines on companies that breach these requirements. Fines imposed on natural persons may amount to up to two million euros. If a company breaches the financial reporting requirements, BaFin may hold accountable the responsible individual in a management position at the company.