Investor Protection

The Trading Surveillance Office (HÜSt) is an independent body of the stock exchange. It supervises price quotations and trading on the floor as well as on the electronic platforms Xetra and Eurex. It investigates all irregularities and notifies the results of its investigations to the Exchange Supervisory Authority and the management of the respective exchange.

The Exchange Supervisory Authorities operate on the federal state level. The Hessian Exchange Supervisory Authority is part of the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport and Regional Development. It is in charge of the market and legal supervision at FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). Its tasks include the monitoring of price formation processes and orderly trading as well as the investigation of infringements of exchange law. Apart from the Sanctions Committee and the management of the exchange, the Exchange Supervisory Authority may impose sanctions on market participants.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) emerged out of the amalgamation of the former federal supervisory authorities for banks (banking supervision), insurances (insurance supervision) and securities trading (securities supervision/asset management) and continues their activities. In the field of securities supervision it is mainly in charge of securing functioning German markets for securities and derivatives under the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG).

Several other organizations aim to protect the rights of investors and provide information, for instance, about dubious business practices. They provide support in law suits, impart basic knowledge on prevention, and help develop the framework conditions.