Mifid II

Ziel der BaFin als integrierte Aufsichtsbehörde für den Finanzmarkt Deutschland ist neben der Sicherung und Förderung der Funktionsfähigkeit, Stabilität und Integrität des deutschen Finanzplatzes auch der kollektive Verbraucherschutz. Kollektiver Verbraucherschutz bedeutet, dass die BaFin dem Schutz der Verbraucher in ihrer Gesamtheit verpflichtet und allein im öffentlichen Interesse tätig ist. Dieses Ziel verfolgt die BaFin von jeher auf vielfältige Art und Weise. Mit dem Kleinanlegerschutzgesetz vom 3. Juli 2015 wurde der kollektive Verbraucherschutz erstmals für alle Aufsichtsbereiche auch gesetzlich verankert. Außerdem hat der Gesetzgeber der BaFin darin Befugnisse zur Stärkung des kollektiven Verbraucherschutzes an die Hand gegeben und neue Aufgaben übertragen. Die wichtigsten Verbraucherschutzaktivitäten werden im vorliegenden Beitrag überblicksartig skizziert.

In the first chapter, I present an overview of the physical commodities traded globally, the various categories and commodities within agricultural, metal, and energy commodities. The importance of global commodities. A little history about the birth of global commodities exchanges. And updated historical prices and quantities, the behavior of the prices of different commodities to shocks, crises, and emergencies such as COVID-19.

In this chapter, I present how the physical global supply chain is structured. The role of commodity traders in matching buyers and sellers from different parts of the globe. How commodities are transformed in space, time, and shape to meet participants’ needs and make a profit and arbitrage opportunities. Then, how international transactions in commodities trading are financed.

In this chapter, I discuss the various financial aspects related to global commodities. In particular, I cover the role and development of organized exchanges of commodities. How trading in commodities’ financial derivatives is executed through trading systems. The concept of financialization of commodity markets. And manipulation practices in global commodities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a highly evolved area of computer science that strives to create intelligent machines that can replicate certain human behaviour without its irrationalities for better predictability and consistency. Advanced AI that utilizes machine learning makes it possible for machines to learn from previous data (experience), adjust to new inputs (instructions) and perform tasks through updated algorithms. Through sophisticated algorithms, modern AI systems can be trained to accomplish specific tasks by processing large amounts of data, obtaining insights and recognizable patterns in the data to act upon. As such AI has become a hot topic, with much interest on its advantages to the highly regulated financial services industry.Similarly, blockchain technology also has the potential to both enrich and improve financial processes and asset management systems, and progressive corporations have invested and devoted resources to utilize and incorporate blockchain into their businesses. The use of distributed ledgers or blockchain has been explored in areas such as compliance and securities settlement, and these technologies could also be used to improve efficiencies in asset management.In this chapter, we provide a short discussion of AI and blockchain applications in asset management and understand the benefits and the shift in processes, as well as the challenges that need to be overcome for practical applications for AI and blockchain and how to approach such innovations.

Artificial intelligence has become a new engine for economic growth and as the central driving force of the new round of industrial reforms, artificial intelligence will further discharge the energy accumulated from prior technological revolutions and industrial alterations by generating new powerful engines to modernize economic activities such as production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. The decentralized nature of blockchain generates, the new concept of a token economy in which the community’s revenue is allocated to the actual content producers and service users who generate value. In addition, Blockchain is a key technology that enables new protocols for the establishment of a token economy in the future, leading to a new economic paradigm. Digital technologies are now turning the world upside down and so an ongoing series of technological developments have transformed economic and social life. The integration of AI agents into society has led to a different manner in which persons interact with each other, along with a new kind of direct interaction presented with AI agents, which are increasingly posed in society.

This chapter approaches translation from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective drawing, in particular, on Michel Callon’s sociology of translation. It follows Callon’s notion of translation conceptualised in four analytical steps: problematisation, interessement, enrolment, and mobilisation. Translation denotes the complex process through which knowledge is identified and facts are constructed, actors are turned into stakeholders, and an actor-network is ultimately formed. The chapter deploys the case of Finance Watch, a European pro-reform interest and advocacy group founded in Brussels after the 2008/2009 financial crisis. The chapter shows how Finance Watch gradually lost capacity for critique as it adopted the routines and language of its object of critique. This followed from a process of translating which included the advocacy group’s initial problematisation of financial regulation reforms, alliance construction, and finally denoting itself as a spokesperson for a network of civil society actors.

‚Digitalisierung‘ ist im engeren Sinne die Umwandlung von analogen Medien in digitale Daten zur Weiterverarbeitung in IT-Systemen. Im weiteren Sinne beinhaltet sie die Durchdringung von Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftsbereichen mit Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien und umfasst die Transformation von Daten, Prozessen und Technologien. Ziel der Digitalisierung ist dabei die kontinuierliche Vereinfachung und Automatisierung der Geschäftssysteme durch die Implementierung digitaler Technologien in bestehende Prozesse. Somit werden effektivere und effizientere Wertschöpfungsketten geschaffen, und auch das heutige Geschäft kann an die aktuellen Ansprüche des Marktes angepasst werden.

Informationen werden in der Energiewirtschaft selbstverständlich nicht nur lokal verarbeitet. Es existieren unüberschaubar viele Anwendungsfälle, in denen Informationen unternehmensintern oder über Unternehmensgrenzen hinweg über Kommunikationsnetze übertragen werden müssen. In diesem Kapitel werden wir uns einigen dieser Anwendungsfälle widmen.

The following case study deals with the question of how robo-advisory Robo-advice can be implemented and integrated into the existing bank model, using the example of Hauck & Aufhaeuser Privatbankiers (H&A).

In the last decade, there have been many changes in the asset management industry, as this period represented a critical point for the hedge fund industry from the regulatory point of view. The vast literature on the issue suggests that there are three objectives that provide the rationale for financial regulation in general and for hedge fund regulation in particular. These objectives are: (a) protection of investors, (b) promotion of market integrity, but also (c) preservation of financial stability. As we shall see, the above-mentioned aims are connected and overlap, in certain aspects. Consequently, capital flows to hedge funds in various countries are influenced by the strength and the enforcement of investor protection laws in these countries. All the above-mentioned principles are being addressed in the current chapter, in relation to the apparent validity of their application to hedge funds, at a global level. Further on, the chapter makes a clear organization of the different sets of regulation applicable to hedge funds aiming to protect investors, market integrity, and financial system stability. One central idea needs to be apprehended: the hedge fund involvement in market manipulation and insider dealing is clearly unsupported. Hedge funds were not the cause, as they spread systemic risk, but they did not create it.

The main aim of the current chapter is the assessment of whether the UK regulator of hedge funds managed or not to find a fund-friendly (Quaglia, L. [2015]. The Politics of ‘Third Country Equivalence’ in Post-Crisis Financial Services Regulation in the European Union. West European Politics, Vol. 38, Issue 1, p. 168) manner for the transposition of the AIFMD, in order that the United Kingdom can continue being an attractive market for hedge funds, particularly when taking into consideration Brexit. As a consequence, in the beginning of the chapter the regulation of hedge funds in the United Kingdom will be examined; then, the new regulation on the alternative investment funds, the regulatory bodies of FCA and PRA, finally, the European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act of 2020. The importance of this theme, resides in the fact the United Kingdom represents one of the most important markets for alternative investment funds, and particularly for hedge funds, from an international point of view. There are two key reasons for this: innovative and fund-friendly legislation. These being said, increased interest on this subject will be paid by all global actors both on legal grounds and from a financial point of view. However, all these preliminary aspects will change a lot after the Brexit, when it is important to find out whether the United Kingdom will decide or not to remain an EEA (European Economic Area) country. The impact of the European Union Withdrawal Agreement on the United Kingdom and on hedge funds will be therefore analyzed in the last part of the chapter.

The current chapter presented a comprehensive overview of the European legislative framework regarding, inter alia, hedge funds: UCITS Directives (IV, V, and VI), AIFM Directive and MiFID (Level I and II) and other major sources of Community Legal Rules. The UCITS Directives, the AIFMD, and the MiFID introduce a harmonized investment protection and product regulation framework, focusing on improved investor disclosure and transparency in order to enhance financial stability of the market. Up to date, various issues, typical of investment services approach (mainly those emerging from MiFID I and more recently MiFID II) were incorporated into the UCITS and AIFMD Directives, and the MiFID approach, being currently influencing several other areas of EU Financial Services regulation. Lately, a trans-sectorial standard for investor protection and transparency enhancement is starting to emerge, and may stand as the foundation for future developments and integration of EU legislation. All these abovementioned pieces of EU legislation are particularly significant at the global level, given that it is the main European financial system for the management and marketing of such investment funds. The chapter examines how the contemporary directives mentioned above could affect first of all, investor protection, then, the marketing and distribution of hedge fund shares and units and the activities of their managers and last, the shaping of the European hedge fund industry’s regulatory future as a result of their evolution and implementation. Hence, the major aim of this chapter is to study the latest evolutions in terms of regulatory integration of the EU economic market analyzing mainly the protection of investors’ rights.

This chapter examines the laws and regulations governing hedge funds in Italy, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and Switzerland in order to contrast and compare, at least to a certain extent, the position in these above-mentioned different jurisdictions. Therefore, this chapter provides a comparative summary of the legal forms applicable to hedge funds in six jurisdictions, five EU member states plus Switzerland. The author has chosen Ireland, France, Luxembourg, Malta, and Italy because they are relevant from the point of view of the diversity of regulatory frameworks that coexist in the EU. In addition, the chosen European countries represent the countries with highly developed financial sectors inside the EU. Although Switzerland is not an EU member, it is also included in the analysis, mainly because, in the international financial world, Switzerland is an important player and accordingly, especially as a consequence of its foreign policy, many, if not all global financial organizations are to some extent present in Switzerland. The analysis focused mainly on the post-crisis period, when the implementation of the AIFMD, UCITS IV and V, and MiFID II has started. Currently regulation turned into a key strategic factor as it enhanced increased transparency, which lead to the enforceability of compliance and thus protects booth clients and investors. In light of this, regulation needs to be comprehended as a major responsibility in risk prevention and investor protection. Particular interest was given to the shaping of the local regulatory framework dealing with hedge funds, focusing mainly on investor protection and transparency, which have climbed up on the international political agenda of each country, in order to comprehend if tighter regulations have a beneficial impact on the hedge funds industry or not. Also, particular attention was paid to Brexit, a subject of fervent discussion for the last four years, at least, and which will continue to be one of the most disputed issues for some years from now on.

This chapter investigates the difficulties which EU agencies face within a Union in crisis. The institutional position of autonomous EU regulators has been challenged both in European law and within the coordination demands of a broader European crisis regime. At a deeper level, however, crisis has heightened underlying concerns about the appropriate place of autonomous governance institutions within the broader scheme of democratic politics and government. Similarly, mandate overload finds its counterpart in renewed calls for the enhanced legitimation of agency operation, a phenomenon which itself is claimed to undermine agency functionality. Autonomous agencies find themselves subjects of problems of accountability overload and of reputational risk. Finally, EU agencies are also implicated within a modern epistemological crisis which pitches a technocratic arm of administration against a rising tide of politics.

To combat market inefficiencies resulting from the information asymmetry that exists between businesses and consumers, an increasing number of mandated information disclosures are imposed on businesses to give consumers the means to protect their own interests by making autonomous, informed choices. Prohibiting misleading information and informing consumers with correct information lies at the core of the so-called information paradigm which resulted in consumer information models across the world. Pre-contractual information duties and labelling requirements for foodstuffs range among the earliest information obligations that have been adopted in view of protecting consumers. Together with the prohibition of misleading commercial practices and transparency requirements for contract terms these measures seek to respectively prevent and to combat the deception of consumers. The different forms such measures may take are the subject of an in-depth comparative analysis in this general report.The last decade models based on mandatory disclosures increasingly became the subject of criticism not in the least by behavioural economists. More particularly the continuous accumulation of information requirements begs the question whether the ‘inundation’ of information does not risk to dis-inform the consumer rather than inform. Furthermore the benchmark of the rational consumer which serves as the basis for the design of protective measures is increasingly criticised. In this general report the impact, if any, of those criticisms on the national consumer information policies in the reporting countries is examined.Finally new communication technologies pose new threats to consumers. The general report examines whether those developments cause new forms of information asymmetries.

Der Beitrag vermittelt einen Überblick über neue digitale Anbieter in der deutschen Kreditwirtschaft. In drei Segmenten, die an die bekannten Geschäftsfelder etablierter Banken angelehnt sind, werden anschließend die spezifischen Mehrwerte der „neuen Banken“ anhand ihrer Geschäftsmodelle herausgearbeitet und Konkurrenzbeziehungen zu den traditionellen Anbietern beleuchtet.

The 2008 global financial crisis led to a severe economic downturn in advanced industrialised economies. Considering that weak financial sector oversight contributed to the crisis, there was an unparalleled opportunity for redesigning financial sector supervision in the European Union (EU).

We consider a program that, by bringing additional liquidity to the equity markets, would benefit market participants, listed companies, an exchange, and the broader economy. Established by an issuer, managed by a third-party broker-dealer intermediary, formally structured and maximally transparent, the program involves corporate share repurchase in a falling market and issuance in a rising market. We use simulation analysis to assess the procedure for 30 Dow and 30 DAX stocks for the 5 year span, 2008–2012; our findings indicate that the program can generate profits for firms that institute it, and we suggest that additional steps be taken to refine, further test, and implement the procedure.

Distribution is a key aspect of insurers’ business models. Insurance companies use multi-channel and multi touch-point distribution methods to target their customers. Insurers must manage the distribution risk arising from actions of the distribution channel, which have the potential to impact the quality and volume of the insured portfolio, the insurer’s income-generating capacity, long-term financial sustainability and brand value. In this chapter we discuss the implications of the introduction of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) on distribution risk management and on firm’s entire value chain. The expected impact of IDD main provisions (demands and needs analysis, suitability and appropriateness requirements, remuneration and incentive mechanisms, conflicts of interest dispositions, cross-selling, POG, information to customers, CPD) on product development, sales and distribution, underwriting and policy administration, claims, asset and customer management activities are analysed, considering the influence of digitalization on insurance distribution and value chain.

The life insurance sector not only pertains to a variety of distributors, such as for example, ‘bancassurance’ entities combining investments services, investment and insurance products, but also to the large portion of unit-linked/investment based life insurance products. Major legal changes introduced by Directive (EU) 2016/97 (“IDD”) will therefore need to be carefully considered and anticipated by the life insurance industry, including specific professional and organizational requirements, specific information standards for insurance-based investment products, which will include the provision of appropriate information and requirements for advice to be suitable, restrictions on remuneration, and special requirements relating to the advice to be provided to the customer by any distributor related to costs and charges or to the distribution of the product—including the cost of advice. The international character of the Life Insurance has an important impact on the work to the implementation of IDD which aims at a so-called minimum harmonization. No doubt that the implementation may appear wide and burdensome, but it is a unique opportunity for all entities involved to achieve a good balance of liabilities between the professionals involved, review risk management options and look for sustainable business alternatives. This chapter examines the impact of IDD on life insurance and addresses the harmonization impact and effect of the IDD in the insurance industry.

The chapter is devoted to the principle of acting in the customer’s best interest in the Polish insurance market. It aims to interpret the principle of the best interest of the customer in light of European and Polish financial markets law and Polish supervisory practice. The chapter is also intended to indicate the best course of action in accordance with the principle of the customer’s best interest.

Despite the European passport granted to insurance intermediaries by the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) in 2002, the single market for insurance distribution remained very fragmented. In 2016, in order to promote the emergence of a genuine Single Market in insurance services, the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) introduced new rules on cross border insurance distribution and new division of competence between home and host Member State authorities. However, it failed to provide the necessary legal clarity on when an insurance intermediary is likely to be pursuing cross-border activities. This chapter will explore whether the IDD, together with the 2018 Decision of EIOPA’s board of Supervisors, have led or will lead to more market integration. This chapter also briefly analyses the possible impact of ‘Brexit’, that is, the leaving of the EU by the United Kingdom, on cross-border activities of insurance intermediaries.

This chapter will analyse the role of IDD as the new EU legal framework for enforcing consumer ADR system in the insurance sector. After a brief examination of the main EU initiatives aimed at promoting the use of ADR for consumer’s disputes, it will consider the position of the IDD rules. Then, it will try to imagine the impact of the IDD framework on out-of-court redress for the insurance sector, with an overview of the main items that could be faced in the implementation of article 15 of the directive.

The chapter aims to analyse the recent reform of the EU regulatory framework as regards insurance-based investment products (IBIPs). The current regime provided for IBIPs offers stronger protection to all customers, regardless of the channel of distribution. In line with the EU plan to provide consistent cross-sectorial investor protection across all Member States, many IDD provisions are based on the corresponding MiFID II rules, even though some differences remain and should be further elaborated in connection with the inconsistencies, overlaps and gaps in the investor protection as far as the distribution of the IBIPs is concerned. Furthermore, several Member States have exercised the discretions recognised by the IDD as regards IBIPs mainly to gold plate investor protection measures. However, such an uncoordinated approach undermines the internal market’s objectives. Therefore, the chapter advises EIOPA to use its powers to coordinate Member States’ measures and ensure transparency about National Competent Authorities’ measures in this respect.

Product oversight and governance (POG) is one of the major innovations, if not the most significant, introduced by the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD). This chapter aims to investigate how POG fits into the overall EU insurance regulation. POG introduced a risk-based and prospective approach similar to that of Solvency II. Moreover, the supervision required by POG is similar to that arising from Solvency II. Above all, the set of rules on POG extends the list of those affecting the organization of the undertakings. The combination of these three profiles that pertains to insurance undertakings, intermediaries and supervisors, is likely to have a significant impact on the harmonization of the rules on the conduct of insurance business.

IDD directive constitutes a piece of EU primary legislation and therefore it is obliged to respect the legal principles ruling the way in which EU acts towards the Member States, among which proportionality principle is of special importance. A legal act complies with the principle of proportionality if the measures adopted by the EU do not exceed the limits of what is appropriate and necessary to attain the objectives legitimately pursued by the legislation in question. According to IDD’s recitals, the measures adopted therein are proportional to the aim pursued by the IDD, i.e. customer protection. However, a live discussion boosted over the focal point of the IDD, i.e. a wide range of information duties, may lead to different conclusions and thereby put proportionality of the IDD in doubts. To verify this thesis, the author attempts to carry out the ‘proportionality test’ of the discussed information duties.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) have radically transformed the EU data protection and insurance distribution laws, thus constituting the two main regulatory sources of disruption for the insurance industry. The new IDD obligations require the adoption and implementation of compliance measures, which affect both the internal and the external operations of distributors, and which in numerous cases involve and even require the collection and processing of personal data in order to be effective and achieve the intended goals. As such, compliance with the IDD provisions needs to be designed in a way that respects the applicable GDPR provisions and ensures abidance by the related data protection obligations. This chapter aims to highlight some characteristic examples of areas where the IDD obligations mingle with the GDPR provisions, both in terms of the internal organization and functioning of insurers and intermediaries (Sect. 2), as well as with regard to the relations between distributors and their customers, and between distributors themselves (Sect. 3), and to pose some of the key issues that should be taken into account when attempting to tackle the interplay of these two sets of rules.

This chapter focuses on the development and content of the EU investor protection regulation enshrined in the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules. A closer look at the development of MiFID and MiFID II and at the context in which these developments have taken place offers an overview of the conduct of business rules and the objectives pursued at the EU level. The chapter discusses how EU regulation in the area of investor protection has evolved. First, the genesis of EU investor protection regulation is discussed, focusing on the Investment Services Directive, the forefather of MiFID. Subsequently, the chapter turns to MiFID, how it resulted from the European Commission’s Financial Services Action Plan, the Lamfalussy approach to regulation on which this regime is based and the transformation of the goal of investor protection from a mechanism instrumental to the overall goal of European capital markets integration into a self-standing regulatory objective. Afterwards, the chapter deals with MiFID II, how the financial crisis gave rise to the call for the recast of its predecessor, what changes were made to the regulatory design following the De Larosière Group Report and the intensification of the focus on investor protection. The chapter also describes where the conduct of business rules come from and how they have developed over different stages. Furthermore, the chapter provides a detailed account of what the MiFID and MiFID II risk information disclosure duty and suitability rule require from firms when providing investment advice to retail clients.

This chapter analyses the tension between the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules and national private law from the perspective of EU law. The chapter describes how this tension has been generated by the fact that MiFID and MiFID II have subjected conduct of business rules, which are similar in substance to the duties of care formulated in national private laws, to a regime of public supervision and administrative enforcement. The fact that the conduct of business rules also affect private law relationships by imposing standards of conduct on firms when they provide investment services to clients demonstrates the relevance of these rules for national private law. However, the fact that the conduct of business rules are cast as financial supervision standards and that MiFID and MiFID II remain silent with regard to judicial enforcement, makes it difficult to determine the effect of these rules in national private law. The potential effect of EU investor protection regulation in national private law is shown to extend to private law concepts which determine whether and, if so, to what extent investment firms can be required to compensate retail investors based on national contract and torts law. The chapter comprehensively explores two competing approaches to the interaction between the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business and private law concepts governing a firm’s liability to pay—the subordination and the complementarity model—and advances the latter as the preferred approach.

This chapter investigates the implementation of EU investor protection regulation in the national legal systems of Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. The aim is to show how national legislators have designed the enforcement of the conduct of business rules in these legal systems. A closer look is taken at the financial supervision frameworks in which these rules have been transposed and how these frameworks have evolved. The chapter deals with the financial supervision and administrative enforcement regimes to which the conduct of business rules have been subjected, focusing on the authority responsible for enforcement and the available enforcement and sanctioning tools. Furthermore, the chapter examines the transposition of the MiFID and MiFID II information disclosure duty and suitability rule as well as the levels of (national) legislation over which the implementation has been spread out. In addition, the chapter explores how the relationship between the conduct of business rules and redress is shaped within national financial supervision frameworks. Discussed are the perceived nature of the conduct of business rules and whether the frameworks either confer a cause of action on investors or enable the responsible authority to ensure redress on behalf of investors. It is analysed why retail investors might still prefer to bring a damages action in common law despite the importance of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the ability of the Financial Conduct Authority to secure consumer redress. It is also shown why investors generally depend on national private law for redress in Germany and the Netherlands.

The chapter introduces the background of the study, focusing on mis-selling scandals which have demonstrated the vulnerability of consumers of investment products and the importance of their protection. In addition, the chapter describes how the study fits into the wider development of European regulatory private law and how the use by the EU legislator of the MiFID and MIFID II conduct of business rules for regulatory purposes gives rise to the need to investigate the relationship between these rules and national private law. Subsequently, the chapter introduces the aim of the study to investigate from an EU law and comparative law perspective how judicial enforcement of the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules through private law means can contribute to retail investor protection. To this end, two main research questions are addressed in this book. The first is how can we conceptualise the interaction between the conduct of business rules and private law norms determining contractual or non-contractual (tort) liability of firms? The second question asks what gateways there are in national private law to the impact of the conduct of business rules on the firm’s liability to pay damages. Furthermore, the scope of the research and the terminology are explained. Lastly, the chapter outlines the structure of the research and how the parts of the book and chapters contribute to the book’s main argument.

The conclusion synthesises the study’s main findings. The conceptualisation of the interaction between the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules and private law norms determining a firm’s liability is discussed, as well as why this interaction should be guided by the complementarity model. In addition, the effect of the conduct of business rules on a firm’s liability under German, Dutch and English private law is compared. An analysis is made of the different manners and the varying degree to which these legal systems allow retail investors to invoke the conduct of business rules when bringing a claim for damages and benefit from these rules to clear obstacles to compensation. The conclusion demonstrates that the adoption by civil courts of the complementarity model has led to a hybridisation of private law remedies. Rather than avoiding the influence of the conduct of business rules, general contract and torts laws in the researched legal systems have shown the ability to accommodate EU investor protection regulation into the private law discourse. The hybridisation demonstrates not only the integration of EU investor protection regulation into national private law, but also the significant potential of enforcement by courts of the conduct of business rules through private law to contribute to investor protection. It allows courts to incorporate the conduct of business rules, and the underlying protective aim, within the decision whether to grant compensation on the basis of private law, which enables investors to benefit from the influence of these rules when claiming damages. At the same time, the analysis reveals differences in the extent to which investors harmed by breach of the conduct of business rules are actually able to successfully claim damages in national private law. The question which arises in this context is whether EU investor protection regulation should come to include a principle of civil liability in order to encourage and facilitate its private enforcement by aggrieved investors.

This chapter deals with contractual liability. The chapter analyses the indirect effect which the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules can have on a firm’s liability to pay damages in contract. Discussion of case law in Germany, the Netherlands and England & Wales shows that civil courts are adopting the complementarity approach to the interaction between the conduct of business rules and contractual liability. These courts generally dismiss the idea that financial conduct regulation of EU origin is exhaustive of the private law standard of care of firms. Breach of the conduct of business rules is not by itself regarded as giving rise to liability. As such, investors still largely depend on private law categories to provide the basis for redress and on private law norms to facilitate the effect of MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules on liability. At the same time, case law shows that civil courts recognise the indirect effect of the conduct of business rules by acknowledging that these rules influence the normative content of a firm’s duty of care in private law. The chapter analyses how this effect can allow investors to benefit from the detailed prescription by the conduct of business rules as to what behaviour is required from firms when providing investment advice. The way courts enforce the conduct of business rules through contractual liability, however, varies across the jurisdictions at issue. The differences in the extent to which courts allow the conduct of business rules to influence the standard of care in contract are analysed in detail. The chapter also discusses the obstacles to obtaining compensation on the basis of contractual liability, as well as ways for retail investors to clear these obstacles by making use of the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules.

This chapter deals with non-contractual (tort) liability, which offers an underutilised avenue of judicial enforcement of the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules. Non-contractual liability is shown to provide an advantage over contractual liability by offering a gateway not only to the indirect effect, but also to a more direct effect of the conduct of business rules on a firm’s liability to pay damages. The direct effect is grounded in a tort category which establishes liability for breach of a statutory duty. The direct effect presents a more straightforward way of claiming damages with regard to a breach of the conduct of business rules as it does not depend on the existence of a duty of care implied in contract or a general duty to act. The chapter analyses the avenues of judicial enforcement of the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules through non-contractual liability available in German, Dutch and English law. Although these legal systems contain mechanisms that establish liability for breach of a statutory duty in either a civil code or financial supervision legislation, several obstacles can restrict the extent to which investors can benefit from direct effect of the conduct of business rules on private law. Investors might however be able to invoke the conduct of business rules, and the underlying investor protection aim, in line with the complementarity approach to the relationship between these rules and private law norms governing private law liability in order to overcome such obstacles to redress.

This chapter investigates the issue of causation, which presents one of the greatest challenges investors face when claiming damages in the context of the provision of investment services. Establishing the required causal link can prove difficult due to the fact that determining whether a particular action or event is the cause of a specific harmful result can often involve a great deal of uncertainty. The chapter analyses why this is particularly true for investment advisory relationships, where the investor’s decision forms an essential link between a firm’s breach of duty and the losses suffered. The chapter focuses on the difficulties investors can encounter in proving the existence of a factual causal link. Firms frequently argue that there is no condicio sine qua non relationship between the breach of duty for which they are held liable and the losses claimed because the client would have made the same investment decision had the firm provided adequate information or recommended a suitable transaction. Investors generally bear the burden to prove the existence of the condicio sine qua non relationship and, in practice, can experience significant difficulties in discharging this burden. Courts in some legal systems have improved the investor’s procedural position by applying several instruments. These instruments and how they alleviate the evidential difficulties are analysed for German, Dutch and English law. Furthermore, the chapter shows that under the complementarity model the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules can in certain cases further strengthen the procedural position of investors in relation to factual causation.

This chapter analyses a number of remaining private law factors that can restrict the existence and the extent of liability to compensate for investment losses. In particular, the chapter analyses whether these factors raise significant obstacles to investors in obtaining redress and how investors might benefit from the MiFID and MiFID II conduct of business rules in clearing those obstacles. Analysed are the category of damage recoverable in contract or in tort, contributory negligence, limitation periods and the duty to protest. The chapters discusses how investors can recover not only investment losses suffered, but also potentially the profits they could have made if the firm had not acted in breach of a duty for which it is held liable. The chapter shows that German law offers a more straightforward way of compensating for investment losses, while investors could be entitled to a higher award of investment profits in Dutch and English law. The chapter also demonstrates that there is generally limited room to reduce the award of damages under contributory negligence on account of the investor’s dependency on the advice provided and the firm’s position of trust in investment advisory relationships. The chapter furthermore analyses how investors can escape the short general limitation period in English law by basing a claim for damages in the tort of negligence under the Latent Damages Act of 1986. In addition, particular attention is paid to the duty for investors to protest which exists alongside limitation periods in Dutch law.

Offering investment-linked life insurance products and their actual sale is inseparably associated with particular trust in institutions in charge of the offer. Recently, there has been a significant decrease in the consumer confidence in the European insurance industry which contributed to a growing trend in consumer protection with respect to investment life insurance products.The chapter presents issues related to the latest phenomena occurring in the European life insurance market that reinforced some corrective and preventive measures aimed at the clients of investment insurance products, such as unlawful business practices held by insurance companies, performing insufficient information policies and offering products with unclear structure.The work elaborates on strategies performed in the course of preventive measure development along with the most significant legislation, including the aspects of product transparency, as well as the new sales policy model for life insurance products. The author also addresses the guidelines of the so-called IDD (Insurance Distribution Directive), whose aim is to further strengthen a customer’s advantage as the addressee of insurance services as resulting from intensive pro-consumer initiatives in Europe.Moreover, there are opportunities for insurance distribution implementation presented in the chapter as based on the most recent legislation, recommendations, and consumer demand. These, in turn, are believed to increase the consumer protection and in the future hopefully to contribute to the development of the life insurance product market.The purpose of the paper is to discuss the most important changes currently taking place in the European insurance market and to indicate the possibilities of improving the situation of consumers related to the quality of distribution of insurance-based investment products offered in it.

Innovation, which is defined as the “beating heart of the economy of the twenty-first century”, is one of the key elements of economic policy and competitiveness. Together with entrepreneurship creates a set of factors conducive to the economic development. Innovations are also challenging for the insurance sector. On the one hand, sector itself can be innovative, with the latter supporting innovative activities of other entities by reducing the degree of risk aversion of these entities. The aim of the paper is to discuss whether life insurance sector is innovative and what is the impact of regulation on that phenomenon.The paper consists two main parts. First part focuses on the idea of innovation within financial sectors starting from definition of innovation activity then moves to an analysis of innovation within financial markets which describes the research conducted by Silber and Barras. In general the authors assume that insurance markets are now in the first phase of revers Barra’s cycle (improved efficiency phase—it means that the markets innovate within new technology). This part aims at evaluating if the life insurance market is innovative in terms of Pearson’s secondary product innovation rather than on primary product innovations (innovates within distribution channels, etc.).The second part focuses on an analysis of regulation that posted the innovation on life insurance within the scope of product design and distribution. Product design and distribution is now regulated in the European Union under the Insurance Distribution Directive, which introduced a set of rules known as product oversight and governance (POG). Thus, the paper investigates if the changes of the design of life products, which are expected from the implementation of the POG, may lead to Pearson’s primary product innovation, or they are a mere adaptation to the new regulatory framework.

Since the international financial crisis, financial regulation policies have been a constant focal point in every field and society. Based on in-depth reflection on the crisis, major developed economies have been proactive in promoting financial regulation reforms, improving financial regulation standards, enlarging the scope of financial regulation, and comprehensively enhancing the power of financial regulation.

The use of algorithms is more than ever replacing human decision-making. Naturally, this raises concerns about how to govern AI-powered technologies. This chapter introduces the potential as well as the threat(s) posed by decision-making by algorithms (algorithmic governance) and provides an up-to-date overview of the state of art and the existing legislative initiatives in this field (governance of algorithms).

Data is the lifeblood within the digital ecosystem and more broadly the economies of the future. Whilst there is increasing focus on data protection (e.g. the EU General Data Protection Regulation ‘GDPR’), the broader role of data in enabling the development and growth of a convergent ecosystem has only recently been brought into sharp focus. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, as well as many applications used in the digital environment require vast amounts of data inputs (sometime diverse sets of data that may be geographically dispersed) and vast computing resources to process these.

While AI is already widely leveraged in a vast set of use cases, we will see it become increasingly more commonplace in all industry verticals and affecting our societies. Inference of predictive and ML-driven insight into business processes can be characterized by a great deal of autonomous decision making, which may be perceived by some users as incomprehensible or elusive. Since AI-based decision making ought to be meaningful and human comprehensible, AI comes with a new dimension of governance imperatives designed to ensure transparency, trust, and accountability, taking into account explainability, fairness, and trackability.

This chapter describes microstructure and mechanics of ETFs. First, the launch of an ETF, creation and redemption of ETF shares, and ETF share pricing and valuation are shown. Next, the most important issues related to the primary and secondary ETF markets are discussed. They are focused chiefly on the liquidity of these financial instruments, and various risks and costs arising from it. Since investing in ETFs requires also in-depth knowledge in the field of best practices concerning execution and trading, many practical rules are also outlined, including those regarding investing in international markets.

Omri Ben-ShaharOmri Ben-Shahar and Carl E. Schneider criticise the convenient policy option to enact mandated disclosuredisclosure provisions to adequately inform consumers. They argue that this insufficiently challenges an all too common practice to overcome market failuresmarket failures caused by information asymmetryinformation asymmetry, deters lawmakers from adopting better regulations, impairs people’s decisions, and inappropriately burdens the legally obligated market participants. Their main argument is that consumers tend to make the “economically rational” decision to n o t read the information provided under the mandated disclosuremandated disclosure requirements. This contribution describes not only the traditional disclosure-paradigm, which assumes that transparent and effectively processed information will enable the investor to make well-founded investment decisions, but also the human flaws regarding the way we process information. Based on the failures of mandated disclosure discussed by Ben-Shahar and Schneider, the European PRIIPs regulationPRIIPs regulation, which tries to enhance consumer protectionconsumer protection based on smarter information requirements to give consumers a better chance to avoid decision they later regret, is analysed. Then additional pillars capable of bolstering the investment decision processinvestment decision process are discussed, i.e. organisational standards, code of conduct, suitability requirementssuitability requirements, product governanceproduct governance governance in combination with the more paternalistic element of product intervention. Finally, an outlook to future challenges posed by the potential impact of FinTech developments like robo-advice and tokenised assets will be elucidated.

Paternalistic detail-oriented rule-makingrule-making as well as mandated disclosuredisclosure in favor of consumers have become subject to criticism. Behavioral sciences and economics show that too much regulation might not be beneficial. Furthermore, over-informationover-information and overconfidenceoverconfidence are jeopardizing the consumer protectionconsumer protection objectives. Therefore, this contribution attempts to develop an approach relying on the consumer as right-holder and on an appropriate transparencytransparency concept. Clear and comprehensive information should empower the consumers to take reflected decisions.

Beratung ist ein wichtiger Faktor für eine erfolgreiche Altersvorsorge- und Ruhestandsplanung. Diese kann durch sehr unterschiedliche Berater und Vermittlertypen erfolgen. Die Vergütungsmodelle Provision und Honorar weisen unterschiedliche Vor- und Nachteile auf. Entscheidend für den Beratungserfolg ist, dass Berater bzw. Vermittler bestmögliche Anreize haben, gemäß den Wünschen und Interessen der Kunden zu handeln. Erfahrungen aus Deutschland, den Niederlanden und dem Vereinigten Königreich zeigen, wie unterschiedliche Vergütungsmodelle in der Ruhestandsplanung eingesetzt werden und welche Auswirkungen ein Verbot von Provisionen hat. Das Kapitel verdeutlicht, dass es kein überlegenes Vergütungsmodell gibt, aber dass aus einer laufenden Vergütung Anreize für eine kontinuierliche und kundenorientierte Finanzberatung resultieren.

The European crowdfunding market is growing rapidly, especially in continental Europe. At the same time, cross-border activities are still constrained. Fragmented markets, especially caused by differences in regulation, are an obstacle to growth of crowdfunding platforms. The European Union introduced the European Crowdfunding Service Provider (ECSP) Regime in 2019. This harmonized regime applies to crowdfunding platforms intermediating equity and debt investments between businesses and retail investors. This chapter discusses evidence on the fragmented nature of the European crowdfunding market, while presenting the ECSP directive, as a critical regulatory initiative towards harmonization in Europe, and the boosting of cross-border crowdfunding in the region.

The history of financial markets and finance are united by continuous fluctuations between economic cycles usually caused by structures that enable opportunism and moral hazards. Every crisis contains the seeds of change and innovation, but also risks for regulative overreactions. Crowdfunding as a form of financing is part of this series of innovations in the history of the financial markets. Understanding of the historical changes of both the financial market and the financial system as a whole helps to put new financial innovations, such as crowdfunding and, more broadly, fintech into perspective. The evolution of financial markets or corporate finance naturally will not end in crowdfunding. This chapter gives an overview of history of crowdfunding as part of the ever-changing modern financial markets and contextualizes it as a new, innovative, and modern form of financing in the financial markets.

Neue Ansätze im internationalen Firmenkundengeschäft erfordern auch einen Blick in Richtung Kundennutzen und Kundenwünsche. Der Einstieg in Kap. 5 zeigt auf, dass Banken ihr Beratungskonzept verändern müssen. Die Unternehmen erwarten nicht nur ein Angebot an klassischen Produkten und Dienstleistungen, sondern auch, dass die Bank als Ratgeber im internationalen Geschäft fungieren sollte. Hierzu bedarf es umfangreicher Kompetenzen seitens der Firmenkundenbetreuer (individuelle Handlungskompetenz) und die Beachtung der Ziele in der Kundenbetreuung. Im weiteren Verlauf gibt das Kapitel einen kurzen Überblick über das Leistungsangebot der führenden Universalbanken und Kreditinstitute mit ihren Verbundpartnern. Im letzten Abschnitt wird dann Bezug genommen auf ein neues CRM-System im Auslandsgeschäft, wobei zunächst die Instrumente vorgestellt werden, danach erfolgen organisatorische Hinweise bis zu den notwendigen Schritten einer Implementierung der Systeme.

Zunächst werden in diesem Kapitel die Tendenzen der Globalisierung in all ihren Facetten aufgezeigt. Insbesondere wird ein Blick auf die Zukunftsmärkte geworfen, als auch eine Aussage darüber getroffen, wie die aktuelle Lage vor dem Hintergrund der weltweiten Handelskonflikte aussieht. Spannend sind hierzu die Ergebnisse verschiedener Umfragen und Prognosen der IHK-Unternehmensumfrage Going International 2018, 2019 und 2020. Es erfolgt eine Bewertung der Globalisierung für die Zukunft. Im weiteren Verlauf der Untersuchung befasst sich das Kapitel mit den Firmenkunden der Bank als solche, wie die Kreditinstitute ihre Kunden sehen und vor welchen Herausforderungen diese im internationalen Geschäft stehen. Ebenso erfolgt eine Einordnung und Bewertung der Banken und Wettbewerber im internationalen Firmenkundengeschäft und deren Marktanteile. Abschließend wird darauf eingegangen, wo letztendlich die strategischen Ziele einer Kundenbindung liegen sollten. Dabei ist die Qualität der Bankleistung von entscheidender Bedeutung.

In this final chapter, exercises are provided for the previous chapters of the book. Some exercises require some literature or Internet research, others ask for expressing an opinion.

The market for global market researchResearch” \b \r Research is outlined and the main providers of research discussed in detail. The chapter helps understand the various services provided by research analysts. A particular focus is set on trade idea, discussing the different types of trade ideas, general rules about them and process of generating them. Conflict of interests are addressed. The latest regulatory changes affecting research areas are discussed. The chapter concludes by listing the main challenges ahead.

Subject of research: current doctrinal and legal-technical issues of taxonomy and typology of crypto-assets by international organizations. In the paper the author analyzes approaches to taxonomy and typology of crypto-assets by standard-settings bodies such as IOSCO, FSB, FATF, IMF. Besides the global crypto-asset regulatory landscape, the author pays attention to the regulation of crypto-assets at the EU level, especially ESMA policy activities. Special attention is paid to legal regulation of investment tokens and regulatory approaches to a new type of intermediaries in the crypto-market such as crypto-asset trading platforms. The first and foremost issue for regulators to consider is the legal status of crypto-assets and, as a result, it is determined whether financial services rules are likely to apply and, if so, which piece of legislation provides the adequate level of protection to investors. Therefore, the author also concentrates on the legal qualification of crypto-assets. The results of the study of problematic issues of crypto-assets’ regulation at the global level and in the EU form the ground for developing the position on the opportunities to adopt the international regulatory experience to facilitate the development of Russian civil law.

Behaviour in financial markets ultimately turns not on written rules but on how market relationships are lived and felt. Yet one of the most common ways in which humans seek to regulate behaviour is to create written standards and enforce them: laws, regulations, contracts, codes of conduct and so on. Recognition of a social licence for financial markets goes beyond written standards to the desires and beliefs that animate relationships. Nonetheless, it connects with them in various ways. This chapter considers how it does that, drawing a distinction between behavioural norms, written standards that are designed to establish structures within which behaviour takes place, and written standards that directly regulate behaviour, in the case of the last, distinguishing between those that are prescriptive and those that are aspirational.

Nachfolgend sollen die relevanten Entwicklungen für den Betrachtungszeitraum dieser Analyse von 2008 bis 2017 dargestellt werden. Er umfasst daher zum einen die übergeordnete, volkswirtschaftliche Entwicklung nach der Finanzkrise sowie zum anderen deren Folgen. Dies sind namentlich die Adjustierung der Geldpolitik durch die Europäische Zentralbank in der Eurozone und die einhergehende Zinsentwicklung und darüber hinaus die regulatorischen und aufsichtsrechtlichen Veränderungen mit Auswirkungen auf die Organisation der Leistungserbringung von Instituten.

Die Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe als Verbund öffentlich-rechtlicher Kreditinstitute repräsentiert neben den Großbanken und der genossenschaftlichen Bankengruppe ein Element innerhalb der sog. Drei-Säulen-Struktur des deutschen Bankenwesens.

Für Geldanlagen mit nachhaltigem Charakter gibt es vielfältige Begrifflichkeiten und Bezeichnungen. Der Markt spricht unter anderem von Green Money, Social Investment, Ethischem oder Sustainable Investment, Social Responsible Investment. Nachhaltige Geldanlagen ergänzen die klassischen Kriterien der Rentabilität, Liquidität und Sicherheit um ökologische, soziale und ethische Bewertungspunkte. Bei sogenannten institutionellen Investoren wird die Berücksichtigung solcher Kriterien in den Investitionsentscheidungen fast schon zum Mainstream.

Die heutige Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte fand 1972 ihren Ursprung in der vom Club of Rome veröffentlichten Studie The Limits to Growth, die mittels computersimuliertem Weltmodell in Szenarien die Wechselwirkungen wesentlicher Trends analysierte: Industrialisierung, Bevölkerungsdichte, Nahrungsmittelressourcen, Ausbeutung von Rohstoffreserven und Zerstörung von Lebensraum sowie Energiebedarf. Die grundlegende Annahme war, dass das heutige lokale Handeln jeder einzelnen Volkswirtschaft in Summe langfristig dramatische globale Auswirkungen hat. Die internationale Staatengemeinschaft unter der Federführung der Vereinten Nationen nahm sich der Thematik an, fordert und fördert eine nachhaltige Entwicklung im Sinne eines Dreiklangs zwischen wirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen und umweltgerechten Belangen für heutige und zukünftige Generationen.

Rückblickend würde ich sagen ja, da ich in Frankfurt am Main – der Börsenhauptstadt Deutschlands – geboren wurde. Zugegeben, dass ich heute im Bereich Börse, Wertpapierhandel und Trading arbeite, war purer Zufall. Nach dem Abitur war mir meine berufliche Richtung nicht klar und so entschied ich mich für „etwas Solides“ – eine Banklehre bei der Kreissparkasse Köln.

Several scholars have recently devoted significant effort to deepening our knowledge about the green banking approach and its implications for sustainability. Moreover, a growing number of banks have been going green worldwide, and therefore there is a need to explore green banking practices.Starting from these considerations, this chapter investigates a number of ways in which Italian banking is going green. To this end, the work aims to (1) conduct a review of the literature on this issue; (2) provide an overview of the main regulations and policies for green banks; and (3) present some of the main initiatives adopted by two major Italian banks.The study offers useful insights for those concerned with current Italian green banking approaches by adding knowledge to the international debate.

This chapter sheds light on the macro-economics of the shadow banking industry. It takes the reader on a journey along issues all related to the creation of private safe assets and money creation. What is the role of liquidity for the shadow banking sector and the economy overall and how is liquidity risk transmitted in the market? Can financial instability in the shadow banking industry be predicted? And how is the traditional and shadow banking market connected from a regulatory, macroprudential and monetary point of view? How does the emergence of hybrid intermediaries impact our view and assessment on these matters? Special attention is given to the role of central banks as lenders of last resort, the function of collateral and the impact of collateral re-use and the intrinsic fragility in shadow banking activities and the applied business models.

Securitization is most likely the most visible part of the shadow banking industry. That is mostly due to its alleged involvement of the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Born as a tool to reduce capital charges for banks, securitization became an industry in its own right. Also here a combination of regulation and demand triggered the emergence of shadow banking. The crisis learned that adjustments were needed to reduce the unanticipated consequences and unregulated business practices. Both the (inter)national regulators and supervisory bodies introduced an avalanche of changes to make the industry safer while maintaining the capital reduction benefits for banks. Risk retention, different techniques of tranching, selection at the gate (STS) and all sorts of compliance rules were introduced. After reviewing all efforts involved and despite all improvements realized, Nijs is still not convinced that it has made the industry effectively safer and many questions are still unanswered. NOTE: the chapter does not provide a full analysis related to securitization. Other chapters will delve deeper into certain securitization-related topics or resurface certain (new) features.

This chapter, which builds on the insights generated in Chap. 7 , takes the discussion a couple of notches up. Starting from how shadow banking emerged, the analysis focuses on the question how regulation can help manage an industry it helped creating itself. Two concepts are central in the analysis: regulatory arbitrage (the technique through which simply put one can achieve the same economic outcome by using a different legal technique or transaction and often subject to different (i.e. lower) capital requirements) and second the creation of private safe assets. What exactly is a safe asset and can safe assets be produced privately or is that only possible by sovereigns in the current financial system? If privately created safe assets are inherently instable, the central bank and the taxpayer essentially underwrite the shadow banking industry on an ongoing basis. Contract imperfection, director liability, limited liability for corporations, bankruptcy laws and moral hazard are then topics that need to be brought into the discussion.

Die Finanzkrise führte zur schlimmsten Depression seit 1929. Nur durch massive Konjunkturprogramme konnte Schlimmeres verhindert werden. Hier kam die keynesianische Theorie zur Anwendung.

Disruptiv! Neu! Besser! Adjektive, die im Zusammenhang mit Blockchain-Technologie genannt werden, gibt es unendlich viele. Sie beschreiben häufig einen Hype, und Blockchain-Technologie hat im Laufe ihrer kurzen Existenz schon einige Hypes gesehen. Nachfolgend werden die unterschiedlichen Token-Modelle beschrieben, die zu unterschiedlichen Zwecken einsetzbar sind. Es werden die Initial-Offering-Modelle dargestellt, die neben der Ausgabe der jeweils entsprechenden Tokens zur Kapitalallokation genutzt werden.

Cognitive Technologies are currently in the focus of Neurolaw due to the possibility to investigate inner brain process allowing to better understand human behaviors. Although technologies such as Brain Computer Interface could lead the transfer of neuroscience achievements in legal studies improving, so, regulations and practice, when used with active tools as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation they could represent a threat for individuals’ rights. Indeed, these devices bring new evaluation elements in law theory and practice, but they also attract the attention of several application fields, spreading from healthcare to politics and Defense, so that Neurolaw studies should be even more interdisciplinary, considering also the frontiers in technological research, to prevent abuse of individuals’ data and information, providing legal rules and standards to regulate privacy and protect individuals’ will and rights to self-determination.This chapter focuses on Brain Computer Interface and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, as examples of frontier devices in Technology which could be used and for benefit and for damaging individuals. The study argues that still low attention is given to protect individuals from abuse of private data and from fraudulent influence of personal behaviors.

Mit Blick auf die Zukunft sollte dennoch beachtet werden, dass die Thematik dringend einer einheitlichen Regulierung bedarf, allein schon um einem EU-internen regulatorischen Flickenteppich zu vermeiden. Die Schaffung eines einheitlichen Rechtsrahmens wäre zudem im Bereich des tatsächlich Möglichen, wie es auch schon bei der MiFID II und PSD2 (im Großen und Ganzen) gelungen ist. Ein erster europäischer Vorstoß in diese Richtung erging im Rahmen der Konsultation für die Schaffung eines EU Rahmenwerks für den Kryptomarkt am 19.12.2019 durch die EU Kommission.

Führungskräfte stehen in der Verantwortung, für den Erfolg ihrer Mitarbeiter*innen Sorge zu tragen, diese zu fördern und zu fordern. Dies geschieht im Kontext der aktuellen und künftigen Unternehmensentwicklung, welche wiederum den Rahmen für die Rolle der Führungskräfte und die damit verbundenen Führungsaufgaben bildet.Die aktuellen Rahmenbedingungen, mit denen sich Banken und Sparkassen in einem wirtschaftlich schwierigen Umfeld auseinandersetzen müssen, erschweren eine stabile, auf Kontinuität ausgerichtete Unternehmenspolitik.Die damit verbundenen Unsicherheiten verleiten das Management, „auf Sicht“ zu führen. Erfolgt dies zudem im Gesamthaus unabgestimmt und mit unkonkreter Vorstellung zur Entwicklung des Geschäftsmodells, übertragen sich diese Unsicherheiten auf die Führungskräfte und am Ende auf die Mitarbeiter*innen des Hauses.

This chapter shows that networks widely distribute both big data and fintech applications, allowing fintech firms to execute their activities all around the world. Furthermore, the unbundling of the intermediation process into chains of transactions is leading banking and financial activities outside the scope of supervision. Thus, this chapter investigates the reason fintech applications do not appear to be regulatory-neutral. It also investigates the ‘acts of fintech’ and the responsibility of individuals in developing network of operations and concludes by assessing the current need for transparency, with regard to both the circulation of financial information in the market and the mitigation of the bargaining power in bilateral transactions.

This chapter shows the impact of the evolution of financial technology on the market for money, in order to understand the effect of fintech on monetary policymaking; it considers the development of private tech-fuelled instruments as an alternative to sovereign money (i.e. non-sovereign cryptocurrencies) and specific regulatory analysis of the current tolerance of non-sovereign cryptocurrencies by national governments and central banks. It moves from the hypothesis that the protection of savings invested in such cryptocurrencies refers to individual rights; therefore, the analysis investigates the convenience to set specific safeguards to guarantee the capacity of these instruments to preserve their value, along with further backstops for avoiding theft, plagiarism and fraud.

Strategisch Unterwegssein bedeutet, die richtigen Stellschrauben zu finden und einzustellen. Personalkennzahlen sollen dabei den späteren Umsetzungsprozess der Strategie kontrollieren und bewerten, so ein Plädoyer. Im Personalgeschäft richtet man den Blick sowohl nach innen, um die Systeme, Regelungen und Prozesse dahin gehend zu analysieren, was läuft gut (Stärken), oder eben nicht gut (Schwächen), als auch nach außen, um im Unternehmensumfeld Zukunftschancen oder existenzielle Risiken aufzuspüren. Chancen oder Risiken ergeben sich häufig durch neue Technologien oder Verschiebungen in den Kundenbedürfnissen. Risiken entstehen vor allem durch in der Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft latente Megatrends (z. B. Demografieentwicklung) sowie durch neue gesetzliche Regelungen mit z. B. Verboten, Geboten, verbunden mit ggf. viel bürokratischem Aufwand, und durch die laufende Rechtsprechung im Arbeitsrecht. Die Personalstrategie muss mit diesen internen und externen Herausforderungen im Einklang stehen bzw. auf sie reagieren.

Wie sehen Ihr Leitbild und Ihre Vision aus? Wo stehen Sie heute und welche geschäftlichen Ziele verfolgen Sie in den nächsten Jahren? Wie lauten Ihre Strategie und Ihr Businessplan?

Worauf gilt es rechtlicher Sicht zu achten? Welche Pflichten hat ein Finanzmakler heute?

Market regulation tries to achieve two objectives: one is to protect investors and the other is to ensure that markets function as well as possible. The market regulator in the United States, the SEC describes its mission as: ‘to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation’. Note the ‘facilitate capital formation‘. This emphasises that the function of securities secondary markets is not to offer a casino within which people can gamble but to provide market liquidity in the secondary market without which the primary (financing) market would not function properly, i.e. the secondary market contributes to the financing function.

There has been a dramatic change in equity market structure in the last ten years, not just in the UK and the US but throughout Continental Europe and Asia. Understanding the new structure is difficult and, for a trader, executing in the new structure is much more complex than in the past, i.e. under a single ‘Stock Exchange’ using order-driven trading alongside broker/dealers offering OTC market-making. To put it in the language of the SEC, the market structure today is fragmented and complex.

This chapter discusses the institutional aspects governing the systems and mechanisms participated in by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks (NCBs). The first section elaborates on the composition and legal nature of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem, the objectives, tasks and financial provisions of the ESCB, as well as the role of national central banks therein. The second section presents (in more detail than in Chap. 4) the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), with an emphasis on its two components, while the third briefly discusses the Single Resolution Mechanism (in particular with regard to aspects of relevance to the ECB) and, then the fourth analyses the two components of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), that is the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Systemic Risk Board, with specific reference to the SSM as part thereof. Appendix of this chapter contains an analysis of the role of the EBA in the making of European banking (and, in general, financial) law.

This chapter analyses the specific supervisory tasks of the European Central Bank (ECB) and its cooperation with national competent authorities within the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The first section presents individual specific tasks as laid down in Article 4(1) of the SSM Regulation (including granting and withdrawing authorisations and ensuring compliance with micro-prudential regulations), and Article 5 thereof, which governs macro-prudential tasks and tools used by national authorities and the ECB. The second section is on the cooperation between the ECB and national competent authorities within the SSM, discussing, in particular, the general principles and obligations on the operation of this mechanism, the dichotomy between significant and less significant supervised entities, and the criteria and procedure for classifying supervised entities as significant, as well as the micro-prudential supervision of significant and less significant supervised entities and groups.

Als Finanz- und Börsenaufsicht wird im Folgenden die staatliche Aufsicht über Finanzunternehmen, Kapitalmärkte und Börsen bezeichnet, die von europäischen und nationalen Behörden im Verbund ausgeübt wird. Sie soll Einleger und Anleger schützen und die Funktionsfähigkeit des Finanzsystems sichern, an deren Gewährleistung angesichts der volkswirtschaftlichen Bedeutung von Finanzinstituten und -märkten ein erhebliches öffentliches Interesse besteht.

For the first time, a global pact has been reached to set a common global limit on emissions which is quantifiable and therefore provides thresholds upon which to establish nation’s emission reductions pathways. This pact is the Paris Agreement (2015), by which its signatories agreed according to Art. 2.1 lit. a to make efforts to halt the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels (in the following “well below 2 °C limit” or “<2 °C limit”) and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. This decision came from the recognition that these actions would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. The well below 2 °C limit is based on the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (“IPCC”)’s Fifth Assessment Report. Regional and national policies have been enacted as a response to this limit, but evidence between these national targets’ actual contribution to keeping global temperatures below 2 °C is weak. This weakness is presumably associated with the fact that climate targets are often decided without properly taking climate science into consideration. If scientific information by which the alignment of policy strategies and plans with the <2 °C limit is missing, how can we claim that regions, countries and states’ targets are in line with the Paris Agreement? Another weakness in established targets has to do with how economic players such as sectors and companies are incorporated into the equation. It seems to be a reasonable approach to set climate targets at different levels, from a top-down and a bottom-up approach in order to increase the likelihood of maintaining temperatures well below the 2 °C limit. The targets established at a top-down level need to bear relation to the targets established at lower levels. The manner in which they correlate can be provided by the well below 2 °C limit defined by the Paris Agreement. By targets at higher levels and at lower levels been set with one same reference point, the 2 °C limit, the likelihood of an appropriate correspondence between targets is highly incremented. The research question that will be explored in this article is if using science-based information can assist in making the meeting point represented by the 2 °C limit, workable from two directions: top-down and bottom-up.

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The chapter starts with a general introduction to the EU’s Capital Markets Union project, before exploring the background and evolution of capital markets integration in Europe. It continues with analyzing the deeply flawed rational behind the Capital Markets Union and then explores the progress and obstacles in implementing this new and ambitious agenda. The chapter then explores the EU’s new approach towards securitization and shadow banking, criticizing this as a particular concerning aspect of Capital Markets Union. Another key aspect is the EU’s identification of short-termism in contemporary capital and financial markets, the corresponding agenda however is only a flawed and reformist approach with a limited incorporation of sustainable finance. The chapter then explores how the CMU agenda has already been affected by Brexit and what the longer-term impact of losing the EU’s largest capital market might be. The chapter concludes with a section exploring what a more resilient and sustainable Capital Markets Union would look like.

Um nachhaltiges Wirtschaften und vor allem dessen Bewertbarkeit und Vergleichbarkeit zu fördern, wird die Europäische Union (EU) mehr Systematik in diesen Bereich bringen und im Hinblick auf Green Financing mehr Standards setzen. Dazu entwirft die EU mit ihrer sogenannten Taxonomie ein umfassendes Regelwerk für klimabezogene, umwelt- und sozialpolitisch nachhaltige Tätigkeiten. Ziel ist die Verankerung der künftigen Nachhaltigkeitstaxonomie im EU-Recht und die Schaffung einer Grundlage, um dieses Klassifikationssystem in verschiedenen Bereichen einzusetzen – zum Beispiel mit Normen, Kennzeichen, Orientierungspunkten zur Unterstützung umweltfreundlicher Lösungen oder für Aufsichtsvorschriften auf nationaler Ebene und mit Referenzgrößen zur Nachhaltigkeit.

In diesem Kapitel werden langfristige Kapitalanlagen vorgestellt, bei denen die Ermittlung des Risikos und die Dauer der Investition eine entscheidende Rolle spielen und die in der Verzinsung widergespiegelt werden. Der Zins macht damit als Ausdruck des bewerteten Risikos und der Zeit Anlagemöglichkeiten vergleichbarer.

Im „Magischen Viereck“ der Geldanlage in Kapitel 1 sind die Ziele und Kriterien Sicherheit, Rentabilität, Liquidierbarkeit und Steueroptimierung dargestellt worden.

In „Geldanlage und Steuer 2020“ werden die wichtigsten Anlagemöglichkeiten mit ihren Chancen und Risiken, ihrer Rentabilität sowie ihren steuerlichen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten dargestellt und Zusammenhänge aufgezeigt. Hierbei bietet die wachsende Angebotsvielfalt unzählige Möglichkeiten der Geldanlage. Dabei sind auch die Risiken wie Zinsänderungsrisiken, Wechselkursrisiken oder Aktienkursrisiken zu berücksichtigen, denn sie können besonders in Niedrigzinsphasen wie seit dem Jahr 2010 die ohnehin geringen Erträge aufzehren oder gar zu negativen Ergebnissen führen.

In diesem Kapitel werden die klassischen kurz- und mittelfristigen Formen der Geldanlage wie die Anlage auf Konten, das Bausparen und die staatlichen Fördermöglichkeiten sowie die jeweiligen steuerlichen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten dargestellt. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt ist die Einlagensicherung.

This chapter addresses the second misconception underlying the Leave slogan: that the EU has usurped virtually all national sovereignty. In fact, the EU has supreme authority only in a few areas like the single market, authority is shared in many areas, and in areas like social security, education and health the EU has almost no say at all. Power is not inexorably slipping away from the member states to an emerging European “super-state,” because diminishing returns kick in when collective decision-making no longer makes sense, and anyway the EU budget is too small for power grabs. The chapter debunks the myth of absolute sovereignty and warns against giving priority to form over substance. EU laws are not all red tape and British lawmaking is not necessarily best. Finally, the chapter explains why the European Court of Justice does not deserve its bogeyman image.

AI and financial markets go well together. The promise of speedy calculations, massive data processing and accurate predictions are too tempting to pass up for an industry in which almost all actors proceed exclusively instructed by a profit maximising logic. Hence, the strong mathematical prerequisites of financial decision-making give rise to the question: Why do financial markets require a human element anyway? The question is largely of a rhetorical nature due to the lack of complexity of most current AI tools. However, AI tools have been used in finance since the early 1990s and the push to overcome faulty computing and other shortcomings has been palpable ever since. Digitalization has amplified efforts and possibilities. Institutions with business models based on AI are entering the market by the hundreds; banks and insurers are either spinning off their AI expertise to foster its growth or paying billions to acquire expertise. There is no way around AI—at least in certain parts of the financial markets. This article outlines the developments concerning the application of AI in the financial markets and discusses the difficulties pertaining to its sudden rise. It illustrates the diverse fields of application (Sect. 1) and delineates approaches, which major financial regulators are taking towards AI (Sect. 2). In a next step governance through and of AI is discussed (Sect. 3). The article concludes with the main problems that a reluctant approach towards AI results in (Sect. 4).

The alleged opacity of AI has become a major political issue over the past few years. Opening the black box, so it is argued, is indispensable to identify encroachments on user privacy, to detect biases and to prevent other potential harms. However, what is less clear is how the call for AI transparency can be translated into reasonable regulation. This Chapter argues that designing AI transparency regulation is less difficult than oftentimes assumed. Regulators profit from the fact that the legal system has already gained considerable experience with the question of how to shed light on partially opaque decision-making systems—human decisions. This experience provides lawyers with a realistic perspective of the functions of potential AI transparency legislation as well as with a set of legal instruments which can be employed to this end.

Die Banksteuerung ist beeinflusst durch externe Faktoren (Regulatorik im Bereich quantitativer und qualitativer, IT, neue Produkte und Risiken der Gegenwart) wie auch interne Risiken. Ein Mittel der systematischen Behandlung kann eine Risk-Map sein, womit all diese externen Faktoren erfasst, und bewertet werden. Bankinterne Risiken können dagegen anhand von Frühwarnindikatoren erkannt und behandelt werden.

Banksteuerung folgt einem Regelkreis. Dabei sind verschiedene Besonderheiten von Banken im Vergleich zu anderen Unternehmen zu beachten. Die aktuelle Literatur am Markt bietet verschiedene Lösungen für Teilbereiche der Banksteuerung, viele der gegenwärtigen Bücher greifen die neuen Themen rund um Banking 4.0 noch gar nicht in Gänze auf. So lässt sich die aktuell verfügbare Literatur in verschiedene Gruppen für Teilgebiete zusammenfassen. Andere Literatur, die bei der Deutschen Bibliothek verfügbar ist, stammt aus den Vorjahren, kann also aktuelle Themen noch nicht aufgreifen, die erst danach wirksam geworden sind. Das Kapitel zeigt die aktuellen Problemfelder, denen sich Banken ausgesetzt sehen, als Folge der Krise 2007/2008 und der gegenwärtigen Marktentwicklung im Euro, im Welthandel oder aber der neuen Technik. Danach werden vergangene und aktuelle Skandale vorgestellt aber beispielhaft auch, was die mögliche Ursache bzw. Unzulänglichkeit im Bereich Banksteuerung gewesen sein kann.

Not much is left of the Personal European Pension Product (PEPP) as intended by the European Commission in June 2017. Proposed as a core element of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), the text as agreed between the European Parliament (EP) and the EU Council has become unclear, unattractive and unsuitable. The EP should not have rushed into signing off on an inadequate measure, or the EU Commission would have done well to withdraw the text. Key elements of the proposal were watered down or replaced in response to heavy pressure from member states and certain organisations. It is a classic example of how not to create the capital markets union: protecting national idiosyncrasies and vested interests, and losing out globally at the same time.

Wie die vorstehenden Ausführungen zeigen, bietet die Blockchain ein überzeugendes Potenzial vielseitig und nachhaltig in heutige Geschäftsprozesse einzugreifen. Jedoch sind viele Einsatzmöglichkeiten aufgrund der disruptiven Veranlagung der Technologie nur perspektivisch von Unternehmungen adaptierbar. Eine (zumindest über die letzten Jahre) praxiserprobte Funktionalität stellt dagegen der Einsatz der Blockchain als Medium der Unternehmensfinanzierung dar. Betrachtet man das Investitionsvolumen der Jahre 2017 und 2018 stellt sich die Frage, warum sich Unternehmen für eine Blockchain-basierte Finanzierungsform entscheiden und welche Vorteile diese gegenüber herkömmlichen Finanzierungsmodellen bietet. In diesem Kapitel werden ICOs hinsichtlich der Ausgestaltungsmöglichkeiten des Tokenmodells sowie deren rechtlichen Implikationen analysiert.

The Paris Agreement and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda evidenced the environmental risk implications of modern economies and consequently defined concrete global climate targets. Since then, the European Union has been adjusting its policy accordingly. In this respect, the aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it describes the main initiatives launched to increasingly reorient the European financial system towards sustainable investing. Second, it depicts the role of the European institutions in the global cooperation for a more sustainable development.

Market-based dynamics can play a significant role in the development of green finance. Nevertheless, they will be unlikely effective to mobilise a sufficient amount of resources to properly contribute to finance the most ambitious environmental goals. This chapter analyses the main areas of intervention in the attempt to mainstream green finance, by pointing out in particular the importance of coherently factoring-in environmental risks in investors’ decision-making processes, of effectively channelling the market demand towards green securities, of encouraging the banking sector to embrace green finance and of pushing policy makers to promote and support green investments.

Die Service-Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft (Service-KVG) im Immobilienfondsbereich ist eine der großen Erfolgsgeschichten der vergangenen zehn Jahre. Noch im Jahr 2013 belief sich das in offenen Immobilien-Spezial-AIF verwaltete Nettofondsvermögen der drei großen Service-KVGen (HANSAINVEST, INTREAL und Universal) laut Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management e. V. (BVI) zusammen auf 4,5 Milliarden Euro. Im 2018 kamen die gleichen drei Gesellschaften zusammen auf ein Fondsvermögen von 25,0 Milliarden Euro in offenen Spezialfonds, was einer Verfünffachung des Nettofondsvermögens entspricht (vgl. BVI Investmentstatistik 12/2018).

Die Digitalisierung beziehungsweise die digitale Transformation ist die exponentielle und dauerhafte Veränderung von Gesellschaft und Unternehmen auf Basis von Technologien (vgl. Lindner und Leyh 2018). Zu den wesentlichsten Treibern dieser Entwicklung zählen die veränderten Erwartungen der Kunden an Dienstleistungen (Services) und Produkte der Unternehmen, denen meist nur mit digitalen Technologien begegnet werden kann. Ein Beispiel hierfür ist etwa die Bestellung von Produkten unabhängig von Zeit und Ort – so wie sie über das Internet möglich ist. Die Digitalisierung ist eine vergleichbar umfassende Veränderung von Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft wie der Übergang von Agrarwirtschaft und Manufakturwesen hin zur Industrialisierung vor rund 200 Jahren – der industriellen Revolution folgt nun die digitale Revolution.

Die Bedeutung von Verbänden in der Immobilienwirtschaft als Interessensvertretung hat in den letzten Jahren, insbesondere seit der Finanzkrise, und vor allem im Bereich indirekte Immobilienanlage, deutlich zugenommen. Dies begründet sich nicht zuletzt durch die stark gestiegenen regulatorischen Anforderungen sowie den daraus erwachsenden Handlungsbedarf der Marktteilnehmer und gilt insbesondere für die Anbieter nicht börsennotierter Immobilienanlageprodukte, die auf europäischer Ebene durch AIFM viele regulatorische Veränderungen umsetzen mussten. Mittlerweile gibt es eine Vielzahl von Verbänden, die sich national und international im Wirkungsbereich des Immobilienfonds- und investmentmanagements engagieren. Einige sind spezialisiert auf die Teilbranche des Real Estate Investment Managements, andere erfüllen übergreifende Funktionen mit einem (teil)branchenübergreifenden Anspruch.

Das Rating drückt die Möglichkeit und Bereitschaft eines Schuldners aus, seinen Finanzverbindlichkeiten zeitgerecht und vollständig nachzukommen.

Banks across Europe have been through a significant restructuring process in response to weak profitability and to meet the new laws and regulations that have been approved in the wake of the financial crisis. Euro area banks have spent the last decade recovering from the global financial crisis. While the performance of European banks has improved since 2008, the average return on capital is still low. This average covers large geographic differences: banks in some European markets have completed this restructuring process, while other markets continue to struggle. This chapter in principle analyses the process of restructuring that euro area banks have been facing. Then it investigates the European banking system, presenting structural developments in the euro area, providing a broad set of structural information.

The purpose of the fourth chapter is to show the relation between compliance norms and the other factors influencing their content. The issue addressed in the first subsection to reference these norms to other, external norms in relation to their impact on compliance norms in financial institutions. This applies to rulebooks such as those of the Basel Committee, but also to the general principles of the US and the EU legislation.

Beim Einwerben von Kapital über digitale Plattformen kann es sich je nach konkreter Ausgestaltung um einen Vorgang handeln, für den unterschiedlichste rechtliche Anforderungen gelten können. Das nachfolgende Kapitel gibt daher einen Überblick über den rechtlichen Rahmen, kapitalmarktrechtliche Regelungen sowie aufsichts- und gewerberechtliche Regelungen.

The second chapter of the first part of the monograph concerns the research approach of the monograph: Critical Legal Studies. It posits Critical Legal Studies as a jurisprudential school of thought within broad jurisprudence whilst dealing with its past and present state. When it comes to the present state of CLS, the need is emphasized to modernize (resurrect) CLS and suggestions are made as to how to make Critical Legal Studies more suitable for the examination of a piece of legislation with a continental legal system background.Due to the eclectic nature of Critical Legal Studies, the chapter also describes the main common theme of Critical Legal Studies for this monograph (hostility towards orthodoxy and neutrality accompanied by a preference for the existence of many alternatives) and the mainly employed Critical Legal Studies technique (methodological trashing of ideology—a specific form of critique—accompanied by genealogy). Furthermore, in this chapter, a tailored Critical Legal Studies vocabulary is developed in regards to such concepts as the political economy of law, the good and the evil, values and interests whilst apparently neutral concepts akin the market and specialization are critiqued.

Das magische Viereck bezeichnet die vier wirtschaftspolitischen Hauptziele des Stabilitätsgesetzes: Stabilität des Preisniveaus hoher Beschäftigungsstand außenwirtschaftliches Gleichgewicht stetiges und angemessenes Wirtschaftswachstum

An ever-increasing volume of data at financial institutions combined with a regulatory tsunami leads to problems that are difficult to solve with the current methods in order to meet the regulatory requirements. This article investigates how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) can open new horizons for the regulatory value chain and can be seen as possible cost reducers. The power of AI and ML is based on the data being used. In this article, we will take a closer look at how DLT could improve regulatory reporting quality and processes and what implications DLT can have for banks and regulators with respect to regulatory reporting. Moreover, it investigates how AI can support us in regulatory reporting, using MiFID 2 as an example. It discusses what risks can be mitigated for Anti Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and how the generic intelligent stress tests help to meet the minimum requirements. Lastly, it describes how natural language processing (NLP) can reduce the regulatory burden.

Alles auf eine Karte? Oder doch lieber eine breite Streuung? Investmentfonds eignen sich wie kein anderes Finanzinstrument für die Vermögensanlage. Sie punkten mit Produkt- und Kostentransparenz, hoher Rechtssicherheit und ihren flexiblen Einsatzmöglichkeiten. Sie sprechen sowohl Erstanleger als auch professionelle Investoren an. 1950 ging der erste Investmentfonds in Deutschland an den Start, heute listet die Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht 13.963 zugelassene Fonds auf. Worauf Sie bei der Auswahl des richtigen Investmentfonds und der Anlage achten sollten, erfahren Sie in diesem Kapitel.

Vermögensanlage und Altersvorsorge sind Vertrauenssache, vor allem wenn man selbst über wenig Leidenschaft und nur rudimentäres Wissen verfügt und deshalb auf eine gute Beratung angewiesen ist. Einfach nur einen Aktienfonds anpreisen, ist noch keine Beratung. Worauf muss man achten, um die schwarzen Schafe von den seriösen Anbietern zu unterscheiden?

Transparency is often deemed critical to enable effective real-world deployment of intelligent systems. Yet the motivations for and benefits of different types of transparency can vary significantly depending on context, and objective measurement criteria are difficult to identify. We provide a brief survey, suggesting challenges and related concerns, particularly when agents have misaligned interests. We highlight and review settings where transparency may cause harm, discussing connections across privacy, multi-agent game theory, economics, fairness and trust.

To combat market inefficiencies resulting from the information asymmetry that exists between businesses and consumers, an increasing number of mandated information disclosures are imposed on businesses to give consumers the means to protect their own interests by making autonomous, informed choices. Prohibiting misleading information and informing consumers with correct information lies at the core of the so-called information paradigm which resulted in consumer information models across the world.Pre-contractual information duties and labelling requirements for foodstuffs range among the earliest information obligations that have been adopted in view of protecting consumers. Together with the prohibition of misleading commercial practices and transparency requirements for contract terms these measures seek to respectively prevent and to combat the deception of consumers. The different forms such measures may take are the subject of an in-depth comparative analysis in this general report.The last decade models based on mandatory disclosures increasingly became the subject of criticism not in the least by behavioural economists. More particularly the continuous accumulation of information requirements begs the question whether the ‘inundation’ of information does not risk to dis-inform the consumer rather than inform. Furthermore the benchmark of the rational consumer which serves as the basis for the design of protective measures is increasingly criticised. In this general report the impact, if any, of those criticisms on the national consumer information policies in the reporting countries is examined.Finally new communication technologies pose new threats to consumers. The general report examines whether those developments cause new forms of information asymmetries.

This chapter summarizes the basic principles and legal provisions regarding consumer protection in Greece. Greek consumer protection law is heavily influenced by European law and significant similarities to other Member-states’ legislation are evident. The main focus of this chapter falls on the evaluation of General Transaction Terms, which are found in most commercial contracts and are rarely negotiated over with consumers, as they apply on a “take-it-or-leave-it” basis. Pre-contractual information duties of the seller and the rights of consumers vis-à-vis sellers arise both from sector-specific legislation as the Civil Code. Another significant aspect of Greek law is the protection of consumers against unfair and misleading commercial practices, whereas of particular interest are especially vulnerable consumer categories. Specific legal provisions apply to financial contracts concluded over distance, such as loan agreements or insurance policies, thereby granting consumers of said products a heightened level of protection. As distance contracts are now dominated by the use of the Internet, a targeted regulatory framework for “digital consumers” is required.

The development of national, supranational, or global regulatory bodies for advanced algorithms is essential. In this chapter, a comparison of several approaches is attempted. Among others, the first steps towards the formation of regulatory bodies is explained. Moreover, we present a set of modes for classification of regulatory activities. Finally, the role of parliamentary institutions is highlighted and the idea of an ‘algorithmic monitor’ based on crowdsourcing is proposed.

This book offers a new perspective in the discussion around the subject of regulation of advanced algorithms. It presents a number of significant cases where changes in the code and/or the conduct of its developers or operators have been imposed following administrative or judicial decisions. But the existing legal weaponry is often insufficient to directly confront the array of problems related to advanced algorithms. Therefore, the administrative state must begin to employ innovative steps and perhaps aggressive approaches, in order to meet and respond to the challenges highlighted in this book.

This chapter constitutes the main chapter of the book, where landmark cases of algorithmic regulation are presented. In total, eight cases of algorithmic conduct are discussed. These involve both direct and indirect examples of regulation. Among others, examples from the ICT sector (data-protection, internet browsers, and ad-blockers) and the gig economy (i.e., Airbnb and Uber) are presented and discussed. Recent regulatory action, such as in the cases of the diesel emissions scandal and high-frequency trading are also analyzed.

Finanzanalysetexte entstehen in einer komplexen Umwelt, in der viele Akteure und Faktoren zusammenspielen und sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. So sind AnalystInnen Teil verschiedener Subsysteme innerhalb der Finanzbranche, die es im Überblick zu verstehen gilt, wenn man sich mit Finanzanalysetexten befassen will. Dieses Kapitel stellt deshalb scharf auf die Einflüsse, Kräfte und Spannungsfelder, denen FinanzanalystInnen als professionelle Schreibende ausgesetzt sind: die Schreibsituation der FinanzanalystInnen, die Besonderheiten der AktienanalystInnen und Research-Teams, die unterschiedlichen Bankentypen, die Financial Community und die Finanzwelt überhaupt.

Risiken zeitnah zu erkennen und zu steuern ist essenziell für den Handel mit Finanzprodukten. Der Beitrag zeigt, dass eine Echtzeitberechnung von Risikomaßen für hochfrequente Marktvariablen technisch in einem Datenstrommanagementsystem möglich ist. Dazu wird der Value-at-Risk als Risikomaß ausgewählt und ein Value-at-Risk-Modell in das Datenstrommanagementframework Odysseus integriert. Die Evaluation mit Aktiendaten zeigt, dass die Echtzeitberechnung des Value-at-Risk bis zu einem 1-minütigen Zeithorizont möglich ist. Durch den Einsatz von Parallelisierung ist eine schnelle Verarbeitung mit Odysseus möglich. Es wird erläutert, warum die Echtzeitberechnung des Value-at-Risk auch für Energieunternehmen und für den Energiehandel interessant sein kann. Risikomanagementsysteme tragen dazu bei, negative Entwicklungen zu erkennen, um Gegenmaßnahmen ergreifen zu können. Unternehmen können dadurch nachhaltig und langfristig sich am Markt etablieren.

To promote an entrepreneurial society, many of the institutions that mobilize and allocate savings and financial resources in the European Union must be reformed. The proposals in this area seek to address the bias against small, innovative, and young ventures in Europe’s financial markets, dominated by banks and large pension funds. These intermediaries tend to prefer large debt-based investments over the small equity investments that young ventures need, and the problem is exacerbated by perverse tax incentives. In addition, we discuss reforms that can support the emergence of new, platform-based intermediation in financial markets. Competencies for reform are divided among member states and the Union, but often fall outside the traditional scope of entrepreneurship policy.

This chapter examines the most significant regulatory and financial industry reforms proposed or implemented to date that are meant to address the short-termism problem. These reforms are categorized into asset owner, intermediary and company manager reforms on the basis that each of these groups serves a distinct role within stock markets, and shirt-termism manifests differently in each role. The results of this analysis indicate that despite the significant discussion and many proposals, the actual output of short-termism-driven reform in all jurisdictions surveyed has been relatively modest, and of the implemented reforms, many are ‘light’ touch.

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Algorithmen sind wie Seziermesser im digitalen Operationsbesteck: Lege artis eingesetzt vermitteln sie der Menschheit segensreiche Fortschritte – in den falschen Händen hingegen können sie Lebenschancen zerstören: Ein medizinisches Expertensystem kann einerseits ungeahnte Zusammenhänge aufdecken, die einem Arzt verborgen geblieben wären. Es kann andererseits aber buchstäblich als Sargnagel wirken, wenn sich Künstliche Intelligenz ein falsches sensorisches Bild von dem Krankheitszustand des Patienten macht, das wiederum ein Mensch für bare Münze nimmt und eine Fehlentscheidung trifft.

In addition to automatic trigger mechanism based on regulatory capital ratio level, European Union’s (EU) competent resolution authorities are granted discretionary power to start write-down or conversion of contingent convertibles (CoCos) and determine its exact scope on reaching the point of non-viability (PONV) that marks an institution is ‘failing or likely to fail’. These two trigger mechanisms are effective parallelly and their interrelation is subject of detailed study in this chapter. The PONV loss-absorption mechanism that came with the new EU’s resolution regime in 2014 is a determinant for the whole ‘bail-in’ bonds class. In this chapter, we examine the subordinated bail-in bonds in the form of Tier 2 and new class of non-preferred senior instruments. The general concept of bail-in bonds led to the introduction of total loss-absorption capacity (TLAC) for globally systemically important banks and minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) for all EU banks in 2014, which is referred to in this chapter.

This Chapter offers an insight into contingent convertibles (CoCos) issued by European Economic Area (EEA) banks. First, we introduce the Basel I and II capital instruments and how they evolved into Additional Tier 1 (AT1) CoCos under Basel III Capital Accord. The main focus is on the detailed characteristics of the AT1 CoCos. This research is combined with basic analysis of EEA banks’ capital data, as it is crucial to assess risks of trigger event, coupon cancellation and call extension. Then we investigate AT1s with regard to the banks’ cost of capital. Finally, we present the CoCos classified as Tier 2 bank regulatory capital.

Die Finanzmärkte sind geprägt durch ständigen Wandel und Innovationen. Die Verbriefung i. S. d. angelsächsischen True Sale Securitization, die ihre Ursprünge Anfang der 70er-Jahre in den USA hatte, hat sich seit Beginn dieses Jahrhunderts auch am Finanzstandort Deutschland als Finanzinstrument etabliert. Eine solche Verbriefung vollzieht sich in mehreren Schritten: Durch einen als Originator bezeichnetes Unternehmen werden Vermögenswerte auf eine eigens hierfür gegründete Zweckgesellschaft (Special Purpose Verhicle, SPV) übertragen. Diese zahlt im Gegenzug einen Geldbetrag an den Originator. Die Zweckgesellschaft emittiert Wertpapiere am Kapitalmarkt, die je nach konkreter Ausgestaltung der Konditionen erst in der Zukunft zu erbringenden Zahlungsansprüche gewähren und für dessen Erwerb Anleger ihrerseits einen Geldbetrag an die Zweckgesellschaft zahlen. Die Zweckgesellschaft verfügt im Wesentlichen nur über die von dem Originator an sie übertragenen Vermögenswerte. Die Werthaltigkeit der Wertpapiere hängt also maßgeblich von diesen Vermögenswerten ab, denn nur hieraus können die Zahlungsansprüche der Anleger befriedigt werden. Sie sind entsprechend dieser Abhängigkeit auf den Finanzmärkten als Asset Backed Securities (im weiteren Sinne) – frei übersetzt „Vermögenswert-besicherte Wertpapiere“ – erhältlich und handelbar. Eine dingliche Besicherung durch die Vermögenswerte erfolgt jedoch nicht. Hiermit kommt lediglich zum Ausdruck, dass die Vermögenswerte die alleinige Haftungsgrundlage darstellen, nur sie „sichern“ die Befriedigung der Zahlungsansprüche.

Der Anleger sieht sich durch den Erwerb eines forderungsbesicherten Wertpapiers, wie im vorherigen Kapitel thematisiert, mit einer Reihe von Risiken konfrontiert, die einander beeinflussen und bedingen können und in ihrer Variationsbreite der Komplexität der konkreten Verbriefungstransaktion entsprechen. Eine eigenverantwortliche Anlageentscheidung des Anlegers ist nur möglich, soweit ihm diese Risiken bekannt sind. Delegiert er die Entscheidung an einen Dritten, wie etwa einen Vermögensverwalter, so ist auch hier das entsprechende Risikobewusstsein des Dritten unter Berücksichtigung der Interessenlage des Anlegers gefragt. Im Übrigen bestehen zivilrechtliche Aufklärungspflichten vor allem aus Auskunfts- oder Beratungsverträgen sowie im Zusammenhang mit Prospekten.

Großbritannien ist eines der weltweit führenden Länder für die Ansiedlung von Fonds und Fondsmanagern. In Europa ist Großbritannien sogar führend im Private Equity und Venture Capital. Von den 53,6 Milliarden Euro, die in Europa im Jahre 2013 von solchen Fonds eingesammelt wurden, wurden insgesamt 64,2%, also 34,4 Milliarden Euro, von Fonds in Großbritannien eingesammelt.

Due to computing and communication facilities, formal procedures, often referred to as “algorithms,” are now extensively used in public, economic, and social areas. These procedures, currently at the forefront of criticisms, share some features with mechanisms as defined by economists, following Hurwicz. My aim is to investigate these relationships and to discuss some of the economic risks generated by the power of algorithms.

This chapter analyzes the influence of Nobel Prize-winning financial theories on strategic and managerial decisions relating to financial markets and intermediaries. As the study explains, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has been responsible for selecting Nobel laureates in economic sciences since 1969. In these 50 years, 81 academics have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and the Royal Swedish Academy has awarded the prize to pure economists, experts in finance, and scholars investigating topics on the borderlines between economics and finance. The chapter provides a brief introduction to this important prize and its origin and then analyzes the fields and research in financial economics which have received it. The core part of the chapter investigates the decisions of the Royal Swedish Academy, with a special focus on the financial theories selected for the prize, in order to highlight the contributions of the Nobel Prize-winning academics to the development of the most accredited financial theories and practices.

This chapter analyzes the relationship between burden-sharing arrangements and fundamental rights. Particular attention is paid to the question whether the application of a bail-in constitutes a breach of the right to property (see some judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union).This contribution also focuses on the disproportionate effects of the regime. The BRRD does not provide for different treatment of eligible liabilities based on the nature of the holder. In many cases, the initial sale of banks’ debt liabilities to retail investors and disclosure practices has not been applied in line with consumer protection requirements, resulting in the emergence of a number of mis-selling cases. This issue has been the object of a statement of the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), according to which, the resolution authorities should balance general and private interests.

The Minimum Requirement of capital and Eligible Liabilities (MREL) concept ensures that a bank has enough capital and debt to ensure loss absorption and recapitalisation. It is fundamental, deceivingly simple and yet challenging to implement. First, since MREL depends on banks’ size, structure and business model, it may be a source of conflict between authorities’ powers and banks’ freedom of enterprise. Second, small banks have no easy access to capital markets to distribute MREL instruments, which may result in a disproportionate burden. Third, even if, from a resolution perspective, guaranteeing a smooth writing off of capital and debt instruments is essential, it may not seem such a good idea from investors’ standpoint. This chapter explores the MREL concept, its configuration and its potential for conflict.

In dem vierten Kapitel werden die regulatorischen Auswirkungen anhand von ausgewählten Beispielen des EU-Finanzmarktrechts beleuchtet. In diesem Kontext wird der Marktzugang über den Europäischen Pass und das System von Drittstaatenregelungen im Unionsrecht erläutert. Für die Erörterung der regulatorischen Auswirkungen werden relevante Rechtsakte der EU auf ihre Drittstaatenregelungen hin untersucht.

In dem fünften Kapitel werden die vertraglichen Auswirkungen des Brexit analysiert. In diesem Kontext wird erörtert, ob VK-Institute nach dem Brexit über eine Banklizenz nach deutschem Recht für Geschäfte im Inland verfügen müssen. Für diesen Sachverhalt wird abschließend die mögliche Nichtigkeit der Verträge gemäß § 134 des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches (BGB) am Beispiel des Eigenhandels gutachterlich geprüft.

Die Untersuchung schließt mit einem Fazit über die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse ab.

The chapter examines progress as well as continuing concerns in G-20 led financial reforms, with particular emphasis on emerging markets (EMs). Although risks remain they are of a lower order of magnitude compared to those in the pre global crisis period. But progress is slowest in areas of concern to EMs. Question marks over liquidity in markets as quantitative easing is withdrawn are echoed in EMs, which also face risk-off outflows and volatile exchange rates in this period. Leverage is high in some EMs after a period of low global interest rates and risk-on inflows in search of yields. But EMs are largely left to handle volatility themselves. Even the advice given to them or its understanding in policy circles or markets is not sufficiently nuanced. There are arguments for and against financial tightening as the best response to achieve financial stability. These are examined in the context of experiences in some specific EMs. Implications are drawn for G-20 policies and for its advice to EMs.

The new financial market regulation MiFID II/MiFIR will fundamentally change the trading and market infrastructure landscape in Europe. One key aspect is the trading obligation for shares that intends to restrict over-the-counter (OTC) trading to ensure that more trading takes place on regulated trading venues and on platforms of Systematic Internalisers (SIs). In this context, market experts often argue that SIs might have a competitive advantage due to the best execution concept in combination with the possible exemption of SIs from the tick size regime. Applying scenario analysis, we determine the likely migration of OTC trading volume to regulated trading venues and SIs. Based on our data set, we investigate how changes in trading volume influence liquidity on open limit order book markets (lit markets). The results of our scenario analysis indicate that liquidity on lit markets might increase due to additional turnover formerly traded OTC. However, also a negative liquidity effect for lit markets and for the price discovery process is possible because of increased trading via SIs.

Mit dem Ausbruch der Weltfinanzkrise 2007ff. galten Finanzmärkte als diskreditiert. Auch für die europäische Finanzmarktintegration bedeutete dieses einschneidende Ereignis zunächst einen plötzlichen Stopp. Dieser entpuppte sich aber nur als temporär. Vielmehr nimmt die Finanzmarktintegration mit dem Projekt der Kapitalmarktunion wieder richtig Fahrt auf. Dabei wird die Finanzmarktintegration in drei Phasen eingeteilt: Einer Phase der Beschleunigung in den 1990er und 2000er Jahren folgte die Phase der Re-Regulierungsinitiativen, ehe mit der Einführung der Kapitalmarktunion eine neue Phase der Integration eingeleitet wird. Dieses Papier versucht, diese Entwicklung zu analysieren. Dabei wird die europäische Finanzmarktintegration als Abfolge spezifischer Projekte interpretiert, die Gegenstand gesellschaftlicher und politischer Auseinandersetzungen sind und in welchen sich spezifische materielle Interessenlagen ausdrücken. In einem Kontext der finanzdominierten Akkumulationsweise in Europa ist die Re-Regulierungsagenda der Finanzkrise denn mehr als „Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen“ zu interpretieren, der auf eine Verbesserung der Funktionsweise der Finanzmärkte abzielt, ohne deren Sinn und Zweck grundsätzlich in Frage zu stellen. Zug sogar ‚back on track‘ und nimmt mit dem Projekt der „Kapitalmarktunion“ wieder richtig Fahrt auf.

This chapter considers aspects of UK financial services law and regulation that require governance of risk and the maintenance of an internal compliance function. First, the chapter examines a number of key components of the law and financial services regulatory regime that require financial institutions to establish internal governance arrangements and systems of control for the purpose of identifying and managing risk in financial services. In so doing, the chapter examines the interplay between certain aspects of financial regulation and the discipline of risk management and seeks to allow discussion about whether compliance with such risk-focused regulation is straightforward or complex. Secondly, the chapter provides an insight into the evolving nature of ‘compliance’, the characteristics and responsibilities of a firm’s compliance function, it’s positioning within a firm’s overall control environment and the extent to which a compliance officer and those working in a compliance function, including those working as a money laundering reporting officer, are accountable for their professional activities and may have personal liability for when things go wrong.

Nicht erst seit der Brexit-Entscheidung Großbritanniens sind regulatorische Anforderungen für Banken und Unternehmen zunehmend in den Mittelpunkt gerückt. Bereits im Dezember 2013 brachte KPMG eine Studie heraus, die sich den „Auswirkungen regulatorischer Anforderungen“ widmete. Darin wurden die kontinuierlich steigenden regulatorischen Anforderungen und ihre Auswirkungen auf das Bankgeschäft untersucht.

Huseyin Erkan and I have been well acquainted, both professionally and personally, for many wonderful and productive years. When we first met each other we were really young guys, and one of us is still young. Guess who? [laughter]. Huseyin was here, participating in this same Baruch conference series, 2 years ago. I asked him back today to speak on his own as our guest. I like his interesting thoughts; I like his ideas; and so I extend a big warm welcome to Huseyin.

This chapter aims to analyze the historical perspective of the substantial rules on the regulation of Insurance-Based Investment Products (IBIPs), the IDD in relation to all insurance products as well as in relation to all additional rules on IBIPs. In doing so, it aims to offer a critical reasoning and analysis of the rationale behind the special topics in relation to IBIPs i.e. conduct, remuneration and conflicts of interest. In relation to the above it also analyses the evolution occurred to date in the financial services. Further on, it discusses the new regulations from the financial services perspective and attempts an analysis of their impact after the latest evolutions at European Commission level II delegated regulation.

This article aims to provide an overview of the Italian legal framework in relation to the liability in the distribution of insurance-based investment products, offering an outline of the legal duties of insurance intermediaries and related liabilities looking both to the law in books and law in action. A paragraph therefore will be dedicated to an overview of the Italian case law. At the time of writing the legal framework is under review due to the implementation of EU Directives on insurance distribution. Nevertheless the main legal duties on insurance intermediaries do not seem will change significantly.

This chapter aims to offer an overview of European ADR as it concerns insurance-based investment products. To do so, it charts the development of ADR in the EU, with particular reference to financial services. It then considers particular European ADR schemes that concern insurance-based investment products. It further examines the development of FIN-NET and the harmonisation of ADR in relation to insurance-based investment products across Member States. In doing so, the chapter examines some of the challenges that face Member States and the EU in promoting ADR in this area, and how further progress can be made.

This paper investigates the rules on product oversight and governance, which are among the most significant, if not the most significant among those introduced by the IDD. The paper focuses on the profiles that have more relevance to insurance-based investment products. Thus, the starting point of the survey is the origin of the new rules that were then adopted by the IDD. After examining the events that led to the definition of the current European framework, the survey examines the process required to insurers and intermediaries who manufacture and/or distribute these products. The possible shortcomings in the fulfilment of the new obligations are then taken into consideration together with the different profiles of responsibility that it is reasonable to assume from the new regulatory framework not only in relation to the producers and distributors, but also with respect to the supervisory authorities.

The German Insurance Contract Law (Versicherungsvertragsgesetz—abbreviation VVG 2008) entered into force on 1 January 2008 after the major reform which aimed at providing stronger protection for policyholders, specifically with regard to the insurer’s obligation to provide information about the insurance coverage, policyholders’ pre-contractual duties of disclosure and violation of duties mandatory on policyholders. Insurance-based investment products are gaining popularity in Germany. These innovative life insurance products are usually complex in their structure and the German life insurance companies need to handle conflict between low interest rate and the customer’s aspiration of a certain security level. Moreover, additional requirements have been put in place in relation to transparency requirements which must correspond to the nature of these products. Bearing in mind that conclusion of unit-linked life insurance contracts in the form of an individual or collective insurance policy is a double-edged sword for potential customers, protection of consumers (policyholder and beneficiaries of a life insurance policy) is of special interest. All insurance contracts linked to investment funds (such as unit-linked insurance policy) in Germany from 23 February 2018 will be subject to the obligation to prepare a key information document pursuant to the PRIIPs Regulation and additional requirements for distribution prescribed in the Act implementing the Insurance Distribution Directive.This paper deals with the question of liability of the insurers and insurance intermediaries in case of distribution of insurance-based investment products in Germany. This is followed by a short discussion of the historical development of unit linked business in Germany and legal framework for liability in German law.

This article aims to offer an overview of insurance-based investment products, as they appeared in practice and subsequently regulated by the national and European legislators. It further aspires to provide guidance on the specific elements and risks inherent to such products from a European legal point of view, which distinguish them from other traditional insurance and investment products. Practical examples are also included in this article, which are, though, merely indicative of the forms that insurance-based investment products can take.

Fast jede Transformation bedingt eine Migration von Daten und Prozessen. Transformation findet auf allen Ebenen und in allen Bereichen des Unternehmens statt. Prozesse und Mitarbeiter müssen dabei (zusammen-)geführt, Entscheidungen getroffen und transparent gemacht werden. Wir beschreiben hier typische Verfahren und Möglichkeiten der Migration, die sich je nach Zielsetzung der Transformation unterscheiden. Auch werden wir die Besonderheiten der automatisierten und individuellen Migration betrachten. Es werden Konzepte wie das Migrationsfenster und die Segmentierung der gesamten Migrationsmasse nach den Migrationszweigen aufgezeigt.

Historically, over-indebtedness was a problem to be addressed at the nation-level across the European Union (EU). Today it has become a cross-European topic dealt with at an EU-level. In this chapter, we emphasize the policy measures that can be implemented to reduce excessive debt reliance and the potential implications of such policy measures. The policy measures discussed here include credit market regulation, consumer protection, early identification, and prevention of over-indebtedness. We conclude that coordination between these measures is pivotal in order to provide incentives for both young borrowers and creditors to make sound decisions.

The use of the IFRS for SME standards in the EU fosters Europe’s image as an internationally competitive and attractive place to invest in. The global reach of the IFRS Foundation and the positive effects that they have brought in terms of quality, transparency and comparability of financial reporting stand at the core of its promotion and acceptance. The use of IFRS globally by the EU companies, without the need for reconciliation, is generally considered to have benefited companies with improved group reporting and administrative savings. For the time being companies can report under one accounting framework. A key principle for publicly accountable reporting companies should be ensuring an effective level of investor confidence and protection. The main objective of the IFRS Foundation and the Board is to take into consideration the needs of entities in diverse economic approaches and prepare financial reporting standards also for small listed companies. This helps to consolidate sets of high quality, understandable, enforceable and globally accepted financial reporting standards based upon clearly articulated values for regulated markets and also for MTFs.

This chapter considers whether a new accounting solution is needed to help achieve the Capital Market Union’s (CMU) ambitions for the successful development of the quoted SME sector. It is important to know the present state of play and of some of the various options for moving forward. The optic is IFRS-based and shall consider firstly whether IFRS is sufficiently scalable, and secondly whether the core information objective on which IFRS is founded is optimised for quoted SMEs.According to the CMU Action Plan, which seeks to make it easier for SMEs to list their shares on public markets, a new accounting solution could play a role in creating the conditions for future growth. From this point of view, a fair approach requires finding a balance between consumer protection, the decision usefulness of information for investors and a regulatory regime that is not excessively burdensome to SMEs. Financial reporting requirements are highly relevant; therefore, arguments for all quoted companies, including quoted SMEs, to use ‘full’ IFRS are considered.

This chapter concludes the book, which provided a twofold research on financing and financial reporting united in one single dimension: the SMEs in the new business environment of the Capital Market Union. The concluding remarks include a recapitulation of all the contributions, limits of our research and further comments. In this way, our readers can better understand new ways of getting financed, ‘if IFRS for SMEs is good for SMEs’ and how IFRS increases market efficiency, which later on influences performance and funding of SMEs in a financing and financial reporting business circle. ‘Takeaway’ bullet points are provided for simplification of knowledge and understanding.

The chapter compares the implementation of MiFID II, along with the enactment of MiFIR, across the largest EU economies (Germany, Spain, France, Italy) plus the United Kingdom, whose exit—almost surely effective on 29 March 2019—raises several concerns over the destiny of Europe’s financial hub, especially in terms of its accessibility for EU-based investment firms. Before discussing each country’s attitude toward implementing the Package, we draw up a short overview of its macroeconomic and financial fundamentals. We underline the connection between the different characteristics of financial markets in a given country, along with the response to the GFC, on the one hand, and the positions held in respect of Package-related issues, on the other. In fact, EU Member States have dealt with said legislation in a variety of manners: some have pursued a copy-out approach; some have hardened the discipline of certain issues, on the edge of gold-plating; some have tried to soften it by listening to many of the industry’s complaints. Although maximal harmonisation is still far away, we highlight similarities to be enhanced and differences to be possibly overcome for the purpose of levelling the playing field and bettering the Single Market for investment services.

In this book, we analysed the Package’s long journey, from its roots until the implementation in the leading EU economies. We stressed many times that the GFC paved the way to a new wave of regulation, including the revision of the MiFID I which, at the time of the outbreak of the crisis, had come into force less than one year before. Accordingly, we can come to our first conclusion, which is far more an open question: despite MiFID I being revised to take into account the issues brought by the GFC, might have the crisis been prevented, or the effect been smoother, had MiFID I come into force some time before? More reasonably, we can claim that the GFC can be interpreted as a really severe, but unfortunately realistic, stress test for the new-born MiFID I, very quickly become olden.

The chapter discusses the expected impact of the Package on the financial industry. Also, this is done in a comparison to MiFID I. While the latter was widely welcomed as a modernizing novelty, nowadays both investors and the industry tend to worry about the ‘legislative flooding’ witnessed during the last decade, whose capacity to fulfil its goals deserves a thorough analysis. By looking at how product governance and intervention are going to be materially enforced, we debate some of the greatest concerns for the financial intermediaries affected by the Package: from the rise of additional compliance costs—mainly with regard to best execution and transparency requirements—to the consequences of wider disclosure to clients; from the change in distribution channels up to the duty of separating research-related revenues from different ones. In particular, we discuss these issues in connection with other seminal pieces of EU legislation in the fields of insurance and asset management, highlighting that several entities are likely to have their business model completely overhauled in the near future.

The chapter discusses the wide and complex regulatory framework regarding pre- and post-trade transparency obligations, aimed at reducing information asymmetry and contributing to the overall ‘market infrastructure’. First, we provide an overview of the most salient provisions encompassed by the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR, No. 648/2012), as the latter—though focused on derivatives—constitutes the basis upon which the transparency framework has been drawn up in the Package. Then, we move onto the details of the discipline, which actually informs each section of both the Directive and the Regulation: inter alia, we present the different types of ‘data reporting service providers’ (DRSPs), which are intermediaries entitled to collect, store, and convey exchange-related information, ensuring their integrity and security. In particular, we devote a special attention to waivers and deferrals, which are critical in order to assess the likely impact of the new rules. Coming back to the content of EMIR, the chapter ends by directly facing the issue of derivatives trading, which is going to be increasingly disputed between trading venues and OTC markets, raising relevant transparency concerns.

The chapter investigates the functioning of exchanges. First, it discusses the features of different types of trading venues: for instance, the role of newly-introduced OTFs. Then, it debates the role of technology underlying transactions, which is increasingly shifting towards algorithmic (AT) and high-frequency (HFT) solutions, widely regarded by the EU legislator as a potential threat to systemic stability. To provide a deeper understanding of what an automated exchange means, the chapter briefly covers the divide between ‘electronic communication networks’ (ECNs) and ‘market makers’ in the US jurisdiction, which presents a concerning trade-off under multiple aspects (e.g., efficiency vs. transparency). In addition to merely economic aspects, the most salient regulatory tasks are also investigated: inter alia, the platforms being required to ‘self-assess’ themselves—and, specifically, their recourse to AT and HFT techniques—by means of a stress test, aimed at identifying and mitigating systemic threats. Finally, we devote some attention to the so-called ‘SME growth markets’, i.e. a type of MTF specifically designed to trade equities representing small and medium-sized enterprises, for the purpose of sustaining their development.

The chapter analyses the major changes occurred in investor protection, which is one of the broader aims of the whole of MiFID legislation. In particular, we focus on two disruptive novelties: first, the so-called know your merchandise rule, entailing that investment firms identify a ‘target market of end clients’; second, the overarching principle that they must act ‘in the best interest of the client’, including so-called ‘tied agents’ when providing investment advice. The heavily-impacting rules on inducements—which independent advisors are almost completely banned from receiving—are also discussed. In addition to this, we review the criteria determining the categorisation of both products (complex vs. non-complex) and clients (retail, professional, eligible counterparties). Besides, we show the content and the purpose of the suitability and appropriateness tests, discussing which conditions allow not to administer the latter. Also, the strengthening of investor protection is read in the light of product governance and intervention, which are critical to prevent wrongly-designed investment decisions from backfiring.

The chapter highlights how MiFID II differs from MiFID I, with regard to trading venues, instruments and entities affected by the new legislation, as well as the changes to the supervisory architecture. This is done by describing the legislative path undertaken and explaining the three-pillar content addressed by the Package (product governance, product intervention, rules governing the interaction between intermediaries and clients). We investigate how said EU legislation deals with specific issues, highlighting which rules are applicable to certain recipients and which are not, with a view to the issues of practical enforcement. In particular, the latter is addressed by explaining the rationale of including certain rules into the Directive rather than the Regulation, or vice versa. Moreover, we focus on the provisions entailing a close cooperation between different supervisory authorities. Finally, we discuss corporate governance and risk management issues, as well as those dealing with investor protection and transparency toward clients, which are highly significant in order to ensure an efficient implementation of the principles inspiring the Package.

The chapter provides an overview of the salient features of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), which may be seen as a fundamental cut-off point in the legislation of markets, both in the USA and the European Union. The trouble interrupted a trend of apparent long-term growth, rapidly spreading negative spill-overs onto the so-called “real” economy. When the GFC broke out, new instruments and activities had arisen; new subjects had entered the investment industry; and regulators were desperately trying to keep on track with technology-driven financial innovation. Supervisors have powerfully intervened to halt the crisis: in particular, they have addressed some structural issues in finance (lack of transparency, insufficient protection afforded to investors, etc.). As a result, the business models of several intermediaries have been disrupted. The chapter discusses the main macro-financial characteristics of the years usually labelled as Great Moderation (GM): ‘easy credit’ practices, liquidity created by means of assets furtherly revealed to be illiquid, and a loose monetary policy fuelling the other two phenomena. Then, it analyses the propagation of the GFC, with a focus on credit institutions and the threats (e.g., shadow banking) that traditional players have been facing over recent years.

Almost every time a financial crisis occurs, we witness a profound revision of that-time legislation. Over the last years, a number of analysts and institutions have sought to explain the crisis, its origin, its development, and its consequences. They have highlighted several shortcomings: inter alia, various distortions of the regulatory framework have been considered as co-responsible for the problem. It happened after the depression ignited by the 1929 crash, as well as following the Latin American crises of late Seventies. Nowadays, in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) peaked in 2008, that story is repeating one more time.

Bei einer guten Vorbereitung kann eine Finanzberatung für alle Beteiligten zu einer „Win-Win-Situation“ beitragen. Zugleich würden auch die neuen normativen Anforderungen einer Anlageberatung erfüllt. Bisher herrschte allerdings in den Finanzhäusern ein eher produkt- oder sachbezogener als ein personenbezogener Beratungsansatz, was insbesondere das Risikoprofiling und die Klassifizierung nach Risikogruppen betraf. Psychometrische Risikotests sind zur Erhebung der geforderten Risikobereitschaft eher noch die Ausnahme als die Regel. Gerade das Risiko ist etwas, was den meisten Menschen Angst macht, da es mit Unsicherheit und Verlustängsten behaftet ist. Erschwerend kommt hinzu, dass das Risiko im psychologischen Sinne verschiedene Formen annehmen kann, z. B. eine Risikoeinstellung zu etwas, Risikobereitschaft als Skala in einem Test, Sensationslust in Verbindung mit Nervenkitzel oder unangemessenes Verhalten. Vorgeschlagen wird, bei Klienten nach Risikoaversion, Risikofreude und Risikobewusstsein zu differenzieren, wobei es auch Mischformen gibt. Entscheidend ist, dass die Produktempfehlungen zum Risikoprofil des Finanzverbrauchers passen und seinen Zielen und Ambitionen gerecht werden.

This chapter aims to define the current investor protection regime under European Union (EU) rules. The reforming process that involved the entire financial regulatory framework in the last decade clearly signed a shift towards a more ‘paternalistic’ approach, intended to prevent further episodes of financial misbehaviour. In particular, the objective of the recent cross-sectorial reforms can be identified in the attempt to establish an investor protection regime harmonised in all banking, investment and insurance sectors that encompasses the largest number of financial services and instruments. This paper analyses the main regulatory innovations concerning (1) the disclosure of product information, (2) conduct of business (COB) rules, (3) product governance and intervention and (4) financial education.

Das interne Rechnungswesen verursacht zunächst Kosten, kann aber für Banken – ebenso wie für Unternehmen – einen wichtigen Faktor für nachhaltigen Erfolg darstellen. Über die Daten des externen Rechnungswesens hinaus trägt das Controlling mit Informationen und Steuerungsimpulsen maßgeblich zur Entscheidungsunterstützung bei. Kapitel K1 präsentiert Grundlagen der Bankkalkulation, welche beispielsweise bei der Festlegung von Kreditkonditionen Anwendung findet. Hierbei wird eine mehrstufige Deckungsbeitragsrechnung als Basismethode verwendet und die klassische Trennung in den Wertbereich und in den Betriebsbereich angenommen. In Kapitel K2 kalkulieren wir zunächst den Wertbereich unter Sicherheit und stellen dabei die Marktzinsmethode als zentrales Instrument vor. Nachdem wir in Kapitel K3 auf die Berücksichtigung von Unsicherheit in der Einzelgeschäftskalkulation eingegangen sind, wenden wir uns in Kapitel K4 der Kalkulation im Betriebsbereich zu. Da in diesem Kontext vor allem Zuordnung und Entscheidungsrelevanz der Kosten nicht eindeutig sind, werden verschiedene Möglichkeiten zur Berechnung von Kostensätzen diskutiert, u. a. die prozessorientierte Standardeinzelkostenrechnung. Abschließend zeigt Kapitel K5, wie die einzelnen Kalkulationsergebnisse zu aggregierten Ergebnisrechnungen zusammengeführt werden können, um daraus Entscheidungsempfehlungen abzuleiten.

Blockchain und Bitcoin sind Begriffe, die seit einiger Zeit durch die Presse schwirren. Auch Banken müssen sich mit dieser Technik beschäftigen, ohne allerdings die Risiken zu vernachlässigen. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über die Funktionsweise der Blockchain-Technologie und zeigt sinnvolle Einsatzmöglichkeiten im Bankbereich auf.

Für viele Banken und Finanzdienstleistungsunternehmen war die Vermögensverwaltung bisher ein Garant für stabile und nachhaltige Erträge und damit eine tragende Säule des Geschäftsmodells. Vor allem aufgrund der zunehmenden Regulierung und des damit verbundenen Kostenanstiegs auf der einen sowie des Margendrucks durch erhöhte Preissensibilität bei den Kunden auf der anderen Seite ist die Profitabilität in der Vermögensverwaltung in den letzten Jahren deutlich zurückgegangen. Zudem resultieren aus dem Trend zu passiven Anlagestrategien und der fortschreitenden Digitalisierung von Dienstleistungen weitere Herausforderungen, die den Margenrückgang in allen Kundensegmenten des Privatkundengeschäfts beschleunigen. Die Anteile des passiv und digital verwalteten Vermögens sind im deutschsprachigen Raum trotz der hohen Zuwachsraten aktuell noch vergleichsweise gering. Für traditionelle Vermögensverwalter und in der Vermögensverwaltung tätige Banken stellt sich die Frage, ob – und wenn ja, wie – die neuen Angebote im Robo-Advisory den Markt für Vermögensverwaltung verändern. Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, einen systematischen Überblick über verschiedene Angebote der digitalen Vermögensverwaltung in Deutschland zu geben und interessierten Marktteilnehmern damit Anregungen für Überlegungen hinsichtlich der strategischen Positionierung des eigenen Angebots zur Verfügung zu stellen. In diesem Zusammenhang werden Entwicklungen bezogen auf aktives und passives Management aufgezeigt und kategorisiert. Zudem werden die Angebote in Deutschland tätiger Robo-Advisors anhand verschiedener Merkmale charakterisiert und gewürdigt.

This chapter explores the promise and potential of Regulatory Technologies (RegTech), a new and vital dimension to FinTechFinTech. It draws on the findings and outcomes of a five-year research programme to highlight the role that RegTech can play in making regulatory complianceCompliance more efficient and effective. The chapter presents research on the Bank of England/Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) RegTech Sprint initiative, whose objective was to demonstrate how straight-through processing of regulations and regulatory complianceCompliance reporting using semantically enabled applications can be made possible by RegTech. The chapter notes that the full benefits of RegTech will only materialise if the pitfalls of a fragmented Tower of Babel approach are avoided. Semantic standards, we argue, are the key to all this.

It is claimed that blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionise how financial services firms conduct their business. This chapter presents the main characteristics of blockchain technology and summarises the extant research around the potential implications of blockchain adoption for four main financial activities: payments and remittance, credit and lending, trading and settlement, and compliance. Current gaps in the literature are discussed in order to identify avenues for future research.

This chapter provides a review on key literature on High-Frequency Trading (HFT) over an 11-year period. Using a thematic analysis, the main themes developed within this research stream are identified and insights on the evolution of theory in relation to HFT are presented. This analysis highlights that the effects of HFT on market liquidity, trading strategies and speed, implications for market structure changes, and the relationship between the “scriptability” of corporate disclosure and HFT short-term information advantage, are key themes. The analysis also suggests that many open questions remain unanswered including more recent HFT trading strategies and complex techniques applied to analyse the content of both voluntary and mandatory corporate disclosure. As capital markets evolve, HFT’s speed may no longer be sufficient to maintain competitiveness. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future trends and areas for research on HFT.

In „Geldanlage und Steuer 2019“ werden die wichtigsten Anlagemöglichkeiten mit ihren Chancen und Risiken, ihrer Rentabilität sowie ihren steuerlichen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten dargestellt und Zusammenhänge aufgezeigt. Hierbei bietet die wachsende Angebotsvielfalt unzählige Möglichkeiten der Geldanlage. Dabei sind auch die Risiken wie Zinsänderungsrisiken, Wechselkursrisiken oder Aktienkursrisiken zu berücksichtigen, denn sie können besonders in Niedrigzinsphasen wie seit dem Jahr 2010 die ohnehin geringen Erträge aufzehren oder gar zu negativen Ergebnissen führen.

In diesem Kapitel werden die klassischen kurz- und mittelfristigen Formen der Geldanlage wie die Anlage auf Konten und die Anlage in Sparbriefen, das Bausparen und die staatlichen Fördermöglichkeiten sowie die jeweiligen steuerlichen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten dargestellt. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt ist die Einlagensicherung.

Im „Magischen Viereck“ der Geldanlage in Kapitel 1 sind die Ziele und Kriterien Sicherheit, Rentabilität, Liquidierbarkeit und Steueroptimierung dargestellt worden.In der Erweiterung zum „Magischen Fünfeck“ wurde auch die Nachhaltige Geldanlage im Sinne von „Sustainable Finance“ mit aufgenommen. Diese genannten Ziele lassen sich durch eine Geldanlage in Investmentfonds in geeigneter Weise erreichen. Investmentfonds bieten die Möglichkeit sich mit einer gezielt getätigten Investition indirekt in eine Vielzahl von Anlagemöglichkeiten zu engagieren.

In diesem Kapitel werden langfristige Kapitalanlagen vorgestellt, bei denen die Ermittlung des Risikos und die Dauer der Investition eine entscheidende Rolle spielen und diese in der Verzinsung widergespiegelt werden. Der Zins macht damit als Ausdruck des bewerteten Risikos und der Zeit Anlagemöglichkeiten vergleichbarer.

Der Markenkern jeder Versicherung ist die kollektive Abdeckung zufälliger Risiken aus Basis einer berechneten Eintrittswahrscheinlichkeit. Dieser Markenkern wird jede Transformation überstehen. Versicherer agieren in einem Umfeld, in dem sie mit regulatorischen Anforderungen, den Marktbedingungen sowie dem technologischen Fortschritt konfrontiert werden. Diese Einflussfaktoren erzeugen einen stetigen Innovations‑ und Optimierungsdruck. Wie muss sich das Geschäftsmodell „Versicherung“ aufstellen, um diesen Anforderungen gerecht zu werden? Welche Anforderungen ergeben sich daraus auf die Unternehmen und das Versicherungsmarketing?

This chapter explores the interface between private, commercial and public law in the field of European regulation of financial markets and institutions. Financial regulation has an impact on commercial contract law, tort law, company law and other aspects of domestic law. Some regulatory rules, typically those about the conduct of business or investor protection rules, have been limited to investor or consumer protection. The relevance of EU regulatory conduct of business rules for contract law in general is one of the main topics of the chapter. The main part of this chapter discusses the extent to which national courts have used the remedies based on general contract law as tools to enforce the EU conduct of business rules. The author argues that European financial market regulation will continue to contribute to the breaking down of the traditional autonomy of general contract law and transform contract law into a regulatory tool to govern financial transactions. The traditional autonomy of commercial law had a particular role to play in the domestic context, also in protecting party autonomy against regulatory intervention. This is less and less relevant today, especially on the European and international levels.

This chapter maps out the irreducible ambivalence inherent in algorithms, and particularly Big Data techniques, that become evident when confronted by the law. This ambivalence, and its legal consequences, are explained in four steps. The first part of the chapter deals with the darker sides of the digital economy: the use of behavioral algorithms by private companies in market settings not only drives one of the most innovative parts of the economy, but has also given rise to what may be called “digital market failures”. Remedial strategies are complicated by widespread actor heterogeneity. Hence, traditional regulation not only risks lagging behind technological progress, but also being overly restrictive for some and overly permissive for others.Against this backdrop, the chapter in a second step explores how personalized law can be used to mitigate digital market failure while simultaneously accommodating actor heterogeneity. Using Big Data techniques, personalized law promises to tailor legal norms, from disclosures to mandates, to the individual characteristics of addressees. Unlike one-size-fits-all regulation, personalization respects actor heterogeneity by actively harnessing the potential of digital technology for social good. However, the use of individualized, potentially privacy-sensitive information (such as personality traits or degrees of rationality) by the regulator raises a host of concerns of its own.Therefore, the third part of the chapter develops an account of challenges to the legitimacy of personalized law stemming from both positive law and legal theory. While most of these objections can be accommodated by specific design features of personalized law, the chapter nonetheless argues that it must be used with care and after rigorous scrutiny on a case-by-case basis. For example, its use might be most valuable precisely in the very instances of digital market failures discussed in the first part of the chapter.Accordingly, the fourth part suggests a normative approach to personalized law, under which due weight is given to the interests of all concerned parties. A key result of the analysis is that, if used prudently, personalized law will, counterintuitively, strengthen legal equality by making the differential impact of legal norms on different actors legally relevant, thus avoiding the pitfall of treating fundamentally different situations in the same way. However, such a démarche must be accompanied by enhanced public scrutiny of algorithmic lawmaking. As more and more economic and regulatory processes become subject to the power of algorithms, the crucial challenge is to develop a robust democratic discourse so that algorithmic decision making is not treated as a hermetic black box, but is infused with and guided by those societal values on which a legally constituted market economy undoubtedly rests.

Nicht nur die drastische Erhöhung der Regulierungstendenzen seit Ausbruch der Finanzkrise, die durch die Insolvenz der US-amerikanischen Investmentbank Lehman Brothers im September 2008 ausgelöst wurde, sondern auch der stetige globale Anstieg privater Vermögen verändern die gesamte Vermögensverwaltungsindustrie nachhaltig: Insbesondere immer komplexer werdende Vermögensstrukturen lassen Kundenbedürfnisse und damit die Anforderungen an den Verwalter von anvertrauten Geldern ansteigen. Dies gilt gleichermaßen für den Retail-, den institutionellen sowie den vermögenden Privatkundenbereich. In Zukunft wird nur die Bank im globalen Wettbewerb bei der Betreuung von Vermögen erfolgreich sein, die das Interesse des Kunden in den Mittelpunkt stellt und ihm die gesamte Palette an Dienstleistungen anbieten kann, die seine Bedürfnisse befriedigt.

Das Private Banking und das Private Wealth Management waren bisher durch hohe Margen bei einer gleichzeitig geringen Ertragsvolatilität gekennzeichnet. Darin unterschied es sich deutlich z.B. vom Investmentbanking. Globale Studien in diesem Kundensegment zeigen allerdings, dass das traditionelle Erlösmodell im Private Banking immer stärker unter Druck gerät und die Nettomargen sinken. Folgende Entwicklungen sind dafür verantwortlich.

Eine signifikante Präsenz im deutschen Private-Wealth-Banking-Markt wird für eine Vielzahl von Anbietern in diesem Marktsegment seit einigen Jahren immer bedeutsamer. Banken in diesem Marktsegment suchen nach neuen Ertragsquellen, um Alternativen zu sinkenden Erträgen in klassischen Geschäftsfeldern, wie z.B. im Retail-Geschäft bei Sparkassen und Volksbanken oder im Investment Banking bei Großbanken, zu erschließen. Zudem möchten sich die Banken den positiven Eigenkapitaleffekt aus diesem Geschäftsfeld im Hinblick auf die künftigen Anforderungen gemäß Basel III sichern.

Nach wie vor sind wir Zeugen rasanter weltwirtschaftlicher Entwicklungen, unsicherer Finanz- und Kapitalmärkte, regulatorischer Veränderungen in den meisten Bereichen des Bankgeschäfts und erodierender Margen.

Der Finanzsektor im Ganzen und auch die Geldanlage durch Anlageberatung und Vermögensverwaltung stecken inmitten eines tiefgreifenden Wandels. In diesem Kapitel sollen die Grundlagen und das Verständnis für das Aufkommen der neuen Investment Management FinTechs geschaffen werden. Hierzu zählen die Klärung von Begriffen und Inhalten, um ein konsensfähiges Verständnis für das behandelte Themenfeld zu finden.

The research for solutions for compliance is mainly focused on the representation of regulative rules, i.e. the imperatives that the industry is asked to comply to. Yet, a relevant part of the legal knowledge contained in regulation cannot be expressed in terms of deontic statements, and is instead represented as constitutive rules. This concept was first introduced by philosophers of language such as J.L. Austin and J.R. Searle and further developed in legal philosophy, where constitutive statements are classified in categories according to their legal effects. The present paper presents a heuristic approach for the representation of alethic statements as part of a methodology aimed at ensuring effective translation of the regulatory text into a machine-readable language. The approach is based on a classification of constitutive statements contained in the work of legal philosophers A.G. Conte and G. Carcaterra. The methodology includes an intermediate language, accompanied by an XML persistence model, and introduces a set of “legal concept patterns” to specifically represent the different constitutive statements. The paper identifies five patterns for the corresponding constitutive statements found in financial regulations: legal definitions, commencement rules, amendments, relative necessities, and party to the law statements.

Fällt das Wort Derivate, dann denken die einen an Finanzwetten und Spekulanten, die anderen an die Finanzmarktkrise und hohe Verluste und wieder andere an Boomjahre und interessante Gewinnmöglichkeiten. Der Markt der derivativen Finanzprodukte, der im Prinzip in den 1980er Jahren seinen Ausgang nahm und dann ab Mitte der 1990er Jahre einen starken Anstieg verzeichnete, hat sich in den letzten Jahren entsprechend weiterentwickelt und tut es auch heute noch bzw. schon wieder.

Im Unterschied zum Geldmarkt werden am Kapitalmarkt mittel- und v.a. langfristige Finanzinstrumente gehandelt. Es ist der Markt für langfristige Kredite und Finanzierungen, aber auch für langfristige Veranlagungen und Beteiligungen. Laufzeiten von mehr als fünf Jahren und v.a. bis zu zehn, 15 oder in Einzelfällen sogar bis zu 25 oder 30 Jahren prägen die Struktur des Marktes.

Nach der erfolgreichen Begebung eines Wertpapieres (Emissionsgeschäft) – einer Aktie oder einer Anleihe – erfolgt der Handel mit dem (emittierten und handelbaren) Wertpapier unter den verschiedenen Marktteilnehmern, seien es Banken, Versicherungen, Fondsgesellschaften oder auch private Investoren. Sie alle wollen investieren, d.h. ein Wertpapier erwerben, um es später wieder mit Ertrag verkaufen zu können – ein typisches Handelsgeschäft, bei dem jedoch oftmals nicht an das Risiko und einen allfälligen Verlust gedacht wird. Dieser Markt wird, wie schon erwähnt, Sekundärmarkt genannt, im Unterschied zum Primärmarkt, der den Erwerb aus der Emission umfasst.

Ausgehend von der These, dass der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ein massiver Strukturwandel durch die Digitalisierung und den parallel stattfindenden demografischen Wandel bevorsteht, werden Wege für zukünftige Teilhabe breiter Bevölkerungsschichten – sowohl ökonomisch als auch gesellschaftlich – analysiert. Dauerhaft wird dieses Ziel nur dann erreicht werden können, wenn der Fokus auf Vermögensbildung durch Eigenverantwortung liegt, nicht auf Umverteilung. Diese wird jedoch von einer risikoscheuen Kultur und schlechten Rahmenbedingungen behindert. Indem Mitarbeiterkapitalbeteiligungen gestärkt werden, könnte ein Impuls für eine neue Aktienkultur geschaffen werden. Durch bessere Rahmenbedingungen insbesondere für den Bau von Wohnimmobilien könnte erreicht werden, dass breite Bevölkerungsschichten einerseits weniger für ihre Mieten zahlen müssten, andererseits aber auch billiger Wohneigentum erwerben könnten. Beide Wege erscheinen geeignet, um die negativen Auswirkungen des Strukturwandels abzufedern.

Das Potenzial von Aktien wird in Deutschland noch lange nicht ausgeschöpft. Es gibt immer noch zu wenige Aktionäre, und Aktien bzw. Aktienfonds spielen im Geldvermögen der Deutschen bislang eine untergeordnete Rolle. Dabei zeigen Berechnungen, dass Aktien in der langen Frist eine attraktive Rendite erzielen. Daher eignet sich die Aktienanlage für die Absicherung des Lebensstandards im Alter, die bei nachlassender Leistungsfähigkeit des gesetzlichen Umlageverfahrens immer wichtiger wird. Ferner ist die feste Verankerung der Aktienanlage ein wichtiger Beitrag zur sozialen Gerechtigkeit, wenn auch einkommensschwächere Bevölkerungsschichten von den langfristigen Erträgen profitieren. Angemessene Rahmenbedingungen sind daher notwendig, damit die Aktienanlage in Deutschland ihr Potenzial voll entfalten kann. Ansatzpunkte sind der steuerliche Rahmen, eine Mindestaktienquote in der staatlich geförderten Altersvorsorge, die Förderung der Mitarbeiteraktie und eine Entbürokratisierung der Anlageberatung in den Kreditinstituten, um die Aktienberatung zu erleichtern.

This chapter gives an introduction of the banking regulatory framework in Europe with respect to cooperative banks. To this extent, it first discusses the concept of proportionality and the main adaptations needed to the relevant regulation in order to take into account the cooperative banking singularities. Second, it gives a general overview on the main impacts of regulation on the cooperative banking business model, in particular as concerns capital requirements, governance requirements and the recent evolution in the payment services directives.

Der Abschluss von Derivaten findet sowohl innerhalb organisierter Handelsbörsen, als auch außerhalb, also unmittelbar zwischen den Marktteilnehmern (englisch over the counter, OTC), statt. Dabei wird der Handel over the counter nunmehr erstmals in Art. 2 Nr. 7 EMIR legaldefiniert. Gemäß Art. 2 Nr. 7 EMIR sind „,OTC-Derivate‘ oder ,OTC-Derivatekontrakte‘ Derivatekontrakte, deren Ausführung nicht auf einem geregelten Markt i. S. d. Art. 4 Abs. 1 Nr. 14 der RL 2004/39/EG oder auf einem Markt in Drittstaaten, der gemäß Art. 19 Abs. 6 der RL 2004/39/EG als einem geregelten Markt gleichwertig angesehen wird, erfolgt“.

Mit der EMIR-Verordnung wird für OTC-Derivate erstmals ein verpflichtendes Clearing eingeführt. Das Clearing von Kapitalmarktprodukten, sowohl im börslichen wie auch außerbörslichen Bereich, ist dabei keine Neuerung, die erstmals mit der EMIR in den Rechtsverkehr eingeführt wird, sondern blickt auf eine jahrzehntelange Praxis zurück.

Die von Amerika im Jahr 2007 ausgehende Immobilienkrise, die sich entgegen nationaler und internationaler Bemühungen zu einer weltweiten Finanzkrise ausweitete, hat eine ganze Reihe von Defiziten unter anderem im Finanzsektor offenbart. Finanzderivate waren dabei nicht deren Ursache. Insbesondere die Weitergabe von Ausfallrisiken durch Kreditderivate und deren Verbriefungen führte jedoch zu einem schnellen Übergreifen der zunächst auf den amerikanischen Immobilienmarkt beschränkten Verwerfungen, die in für viele unvorhergesehener Weise sämtliche andere internationale und nationale Finanzmärkte erfasste und weltweit zahlreiche Marktteilnehmer in die Zahlungsunfähigkeit oder zumindest in massive Zahlungsschwierigkeiten trieb.

Die EMIR-Verordnung hat mit ihren drei Regelungsschwerpunkten den OTC-Derivatehandel nachhaltig neu strukturiert. In einer Gesamtbetrachtung hat dies aus rechtlicher Sicht zu einer erheblichen Stärkung der Risikotragfähigkeit des OTC-Marktes und hier insbesondere der am CCP-Clearing teilnehmenden Marktteilnehmer. Ebenso bedeutsam, wenn auch vor dem Hintergrund der Themenstellung nicht in vollem Umfang behandelt, ist die mit der EMIR nun geschaffenen Transparenz. Welche Folgen einen Markt treffen können, an dem es weder den einzelnen Marktteilnehmern noch der nationalen und internationalen Finanzmarktaufsicht möglich ist, zumindest Marktvolumina, wesentliche Marktverschiebungen und Risikoclusterungen erkennen zu können, hat sich in mehrfach fataler Weise in den excellerierenden Wirkungen verschiedener Derivatetypen in der Entstehung, vor allem aber in der Ausbreitung der US-amerikanischen Immobilienkrise hin zu einer weltweiten Finanzmarktkrise gezeigt.

On the one hand, EU law dims the US-inspired disclosure paradigm in favor of a paternalistic approach, shifting most of the investment responsibility onto the service providers’ shoulders. Nevertheless, the US system is still a blueprint, and the comparison shows how the US private-public enforcement interplay is not reproducible in Europe. The EU investor protection system seems irreparably incomplete. On the other hand, however, EU law now provides for a full set of public-law conduct-of-business rules, used as supervisory tool and whose level of details makes it directly applicable to firms. Such EU-made rules automatically become requirements for firms, with the Compliance Function behaving as rule-embedder and internal enforcer. Viewed from within-a-firm, the EU investor protection system increasingly resembles a self-sufficient Regulatory Investor Protection Law.

This chapter concerns the Compliance Function and its activity as law-embedder and internal enforcer. The aim is to give the reader an account of how the “law-in-action within a firm” unfolds (in addition to the examples Chap. 3 provides). Since its establishment, the Function has been gaining importance vis-à-vis the traditional Legal department, which is a mark of the public-law nature of EU law. Importantly, when the EU investor protection law is viewed through the lens of a European investment firm, its degree of self-sufficiency looks far less incomplete than the vision gained from the formal comparison with the United States. The EU-produced norms, indeed, automatically become compliance requirements that regulated entities must fulfill under the rule-embedding and monitoring of the Compliance Function.

This chapter provides a descriptive breakdown and an evolutionary analysis of the European statutes dealing with financial services. It highlights the regulatory leitmotiv driving investor protection in the EU law of financial services and the related introduction of specific—increasingly detailing—public-law rules. Although the disclosure paradigm based on the rational-investor model was largely used since the 1980s, the regulatory approach has become increasingly sensitive toward less-rational retail investors and has required firms to proceduralize investor protection tools previously handled mostly through contracts. The chapter flags—by giving concrete examples—how detailed the set of EU-made regulatory requirements (intra-firm proceduralization of conduct-of-business duties) has become with the result of making the Compliance Function a central figure in modern investment firms.

This chapter compares the single features of the client-service provider relationship under the EU and US laws in order to test to what extent the two systems share similar patterns and verify whether and to what extent the US blueprint may be reproducible in Europe. The result of the comparison highlights the structural difference between the two systems. Whereas the United States rests on a complexly knitted structure of common-law contract law, securities statutes, and self-regulatory organizations’ rules, the EU arrangements for investor protection heavily rely on public-law duties.

This chapter describes private enforcement mechanisms in both jurisdictions. In the United States, private enforcement mechanisms at the federal level are full fledged through collective mechanisms and arbitration procedures. Nothing like this exists in the EU, where private enforcement mechanisms are firmly in the hands of the Member States. The only private enforcement tool the EU has recently pushed to protect investors concerns Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, harmonized at the European level.

This chapter covers public regulators and their regulatory and enforcement powers. The agencies taken under examination are the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The differences between the two authorities are clear. Whereas the SEC is endowed with full-fledged regulatory and enforcement powers, the ESMA is still far from such completeness. However, the European Authority has been gaining more and more powers since its inception in 2010. This is true for both regulatory production—as clearly proved by the quantity and quality of delegation under MiFID II—and enforcement activity—as it is shown by the emergency product intervention powers granted under MiFIR.

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In Spain the notion of consumer does not coincide with the legal definition of the individual protected by domestic financial regulation. That is, while a consumer (or user) refers to a physical or legal entity, which operates in an area outside a business or professional activity; the individual in financial regulation is a client. The client can be an active or passive user of banks’ services, or a retail consumer (investor) in the capital market. The concept of client is more general than the concept of consumer. For instance the non-financial firms are also included in the former, while they are not in the later.

In Europe, general legislation requires protection of the economic interests of consumers. This includes, for instance, the consumer protection from financial services, misleading advertising and unfair contract terms. However, only after the global financial crisis, the European Union (EU) has become aware of the lack of transparency, poor handling of conflicts of interest, over-indebtedness, and low awareness of risks of the consumers in dealing with financial services. This paper aims to investigate the financial knowledge and overconfidence in Europe, and to provide an overview of consumer protection policy in EU. Here, it will be analyzed the EU regulatory framework, whose aim is to ensure the stability of the financial markets and to establish specific and common rules for banks and investments companies among the Member States. Furthermore, it deals with protections of financial consumers in the Italian legislation and within a European context. It concludes providing the Italian financial system as best example of crisis management and resolution, by providing out-of-court settlements, collective redress and crisis management procedures, with the aims to establish a systemic stability and financial consumers’ confidence in the bank system.

Bei einem Derivat handelt es sich um einen Vertrag zwischen zwei Parteien, dessen Wert von einem zugrundeliegenden Basiswert bzw. Referenzwert abgeleitet wird. Derivate lassen sich in unbedingte und bedingte Termingeschäfte einteilen. Bei einem unbedingten Termingeschäft gehen der Käufer und der Verkäufer die Verpflichtung ein, eine bestimmte Anzahl oder Menge eines Basiswerts zu einem bei Vertragsabschluss vereinbarten Preis und zukünftigen Zeitpunkt zu kaufen respektive zu verkaufen. Dazu zählen Futures und Forwards, die sich darin unterscheiden, dass Erstere an einer Börse und Letztere außerbörslich gehandelt werden. Swaps gehören ebenfalls zu den unbedingten Termingeschäften. Demgegenüber wird bei einem bedingten Termingeschäft dem Käufer das Wahlrecht bzw. die Option eingeräumt, den vertraglich festgelegten Basiswert zum vereinbarten Preis (Ausübungspreis) zu kaufen (Call-Option) oder zu verkaufen (Put-Option). Das Kapitel beginnt mit einer Übersicht über den Einsatz von Derivaten, zu denen die Risikoabsicherung, die Risikoübernahme (Spekulation und Handel) und das Ausnutzen von Preisdifferenzen (Arbitrage) zählen. Nach einer Unterscheidung zwischen Futures und Forwards wird die Berechnung des Gewinns und Verlusts sowie die Preis- und Wertberechnung anhand des Cost-of-Carry-Modells gezeigt. Anschließend wird dargelegt, wie diese Termingeschäfte für die Absicherung von Risikopositionen eingesetzt werden können, bevor Swaps am Beispiel von Zinssatzswaps beschrieben werden.