By way of background, capital investments may be offered to the public in Germany only if a prospectus has been published. This prospectus must be approved by BaFin prior to publication. BaFin checks whether the minimum information required by law is included in the prospectus and whether its content is understandable, coherent and consistent. However, BaFin is not responsible for checking whether the information contained in the prospectus is correct, for assessing the integrity of the issuer, or for monitoring the product in question. Issuers of capital investments must ensure that this is clearly indicated in their prospectuses. The issuers are liable for the accuracy of the information provided in the prospectus.

Offerors and issuers can be held liable for failing to publish a prospectus as required under section 21 of the German Capital Investment Act (Vermögensanlagegesetz – VermAnlG). The parties responsible for the prospectus are liable for the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in the prospectus (section 20 of the VermAnlG).

BaFin advises consumers to base all investments in securities solely on the information offerors are required to provide by law.

You can check whether an approved prospectus for an offer of securities to the public has been filed with BaFin by consulting the Prospectuses filed database on the BaFin website.

Please note

In accordance with section 4 (4) of the German Act Establishing the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanzdienstleistungsaufsichtsgesetz – FinDAG), BaFin performs its functions and exercises its powers exclusively in the public interest. Due to their statutory obligation of confidentiality, BaFin’s staff are not in a position to provide third parties with information regarding the progress and results of administrative proceedings.

However, there are ways in which you can support BaFin’s work: if you have any specific information about the offerors mentioned above – such as contract templates, e-mail addresses, telephone or fax numbers of contact persons or the offeror’s account details – please do not hesitate to get in touch with our contact point for whistleblowers.