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Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority is a German organization headquartered in Bonn and Frankfurt. It’s also known by its German name of Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht or the abbreviation – BaFin. It has a broad reach, ensuring the valid functioning of banks, financial services institutions, and insurance undertakings. Currently, it oversees 2700, 800, and 700, respectively.

The foundation of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority happened on May 1st, 2002. The event followed the Financial Services and integration Act’s passing slightly earlier the same year, on April 22nd. The goal of the act was to create a single entity that would oversee and regulate all financial markets. The result was the foundation of BaFin, which was actually the merger of three other similar agencies. Namely, the Federal Supervisory Office for the Securities Trading, Federal Insurance Supervisory Office, and Federal Banking Supervisory Office all fused.

The result was a single entity with a wide area of authority and obligation. In fact, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority now oversees nearly all of the country’s financial businesses. The list includes banks, credit institutions, insurance companies, brokers, and other similar entities. The goal of a unified entity was the transparency of processes and efficiency of functioning.

Another major event in BaFin’s history was the 2003 Banking Act. It gave the Authority the role of following the creditworthiness of financial institutions. It shared the new obligation with Bundesbank, although it’s in transition since 2015 as the responsibilities moved to the European Central Bank.

Other major events in BaFin’s history came on September 19th, 2008, with the global financial crisis. The Authority banned short selling on eleven German stocks. It had a similar response to 2010’s European sovereign debt crisis and a controversial banning of Wirecard short selling.

Roles and Responsibilities

We repeatedly stated that BaFin has a long list of obligations and authority. However, it’s time to dig slightly deeper and find out some of the exact roles of BaFin as an entity. Its primary purpose is to contribute to the well-being of Germany’s entire financial system. It accomplishes that by supervising and regulating a wide array of financial institutions. That includes insurance companies, banks, and the oversight of security trading.

The first part of the equation is account supervision to prevent money laundering and similar schemes. BaFin has a centralized system of computers that stores info relating to all accounts and their holders. All financial institutions that wish to operate in Germany must turn in that data to BaFin.

Next is banking, where the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority approves new bank licenses. In approving or declining such licenses, it takes multiple factors into consideration. Naturally, capital requirements play a large role there, but also the leadership and sustainability of businesses. The Authority’s role doesn’t stop there, as the entities are under BaFin’s eye as long as they remain functional. Entities that break rules are subject to a range of punishment, from license revoking to criminal sanctions.

In insurance companies, the role BaFin plays is quite similar to the one in banking. For securities, however, it’s a bit different, as it’s to prevent market manipulation and insider trading. One of the most rigidly monitored areas is managers buying and selling stocks within their own company. Similarly, the institution also deals in issues of market monopolies. That means it oversees mergers and acquisitions.

BaFin Criticism

Although BaFin plays an important role in the German economy, it’s also had its fair share of controversy. Among them, the first were claims of corruption inside the organization itself. Michael Raumann, the former head of technology, embezzled more than 4 million euros. He was later jailed, but the event revealed BaFin’s internal anti-corruption measures weren’t up to standard.

A later issue was due to a data leak which revealed a list of troubled businesses. It showed a cumulative debt of about 816 billion euros, resulting in damages to bank creditworthiness.

The last scandal was one with Wirecard, whom BaFin defended against malicious accounting allegations. Namely, a significant portion of BaFin employees showed interest in the company before it was finally found guilty. That sparked criticism of BaFin, who only restricted trading in 2020. The first allegations against Wirecard came in 2008.



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