On February 18, 2009, the Cabinet adopted a draft law on the improvement of investor protection. On February 18, 2009, the Cabinet adopted a draft law on the improvement of investor protection. The draft envisages an extension of the limitation period for damages for securities transactions as well as a more detailed consulting and documentation requirements for investment service providers. He also includes a reorganization of the legal relationships in the debtor notes. Abolition of the short limitation period brought the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers for a slew of investors unexpectedly high losses. Risky securities had been sold to them as safe investments. Many of those investors may not enforce court their legitimate claims for damages, because a shorter limitation period of 3 years from conclusion of the contract applies for securities transactions. Is planned now to abolish this special limitation period: claims for damages shall in the future three years after becoming aware of the damage and not after the conclusion of the contract claim can be made.
The maximum limitation period will then regularly be 10 years from the creation of the claim for damages. Documentation requirements for investment service providers to prevent that investment service providers more depending on the height of their commissions, as according to the wishes of its customers, introduces a consulting and documentation requirements. Investment services providers must not only adequately advise their clients, but through this consultation Protocol. Logged to the information and wishes of the customers, as well as the featured product. The recommendation must be justified. The Protocol is issued to the investors and can serve as loading Weis means Court.
A wrong advice is evident that investors according to claims for damages may be entitled. The necessary information or justifications are missing in the log, so the investment services providers must demonstrate that the consultation carried out correctly was. The Ministry estimates the impact of the new rules for the economy 50 million euros of German savings banks Association DSGV, however, sees alone on the savings, at least 100 to 200 million euros per year coming to loads. Consultation protocols are already widely used in practice, so Bjorn Katzorke. The lawyer from the capital market law specialized firm GK-law.de, representing a wide range of financial service providers, thinks: That the legislator now creates a binding standard on content and scope of the protocols is to be welcomed. Modernization of the bondholders Act the Government draft contains also a now overdue rewrite of the bondholders Act the previous law was essentially constructed in 1899 and is no longer up to date. To customize the bonds law to the needs of international markets, the revision makes it clear that terms and conditions of debt verschreibungen international standard clauses may contain. The Department followed the recommendations of the German Bar Association and has no mandatory rules. This would harm the competitiveness of German law. Besides other adjustments, the Bill shows a response to the financial market crisis in the renewal of the bond law: A principle of transparency to ensure that the promised benefits are instantly recognizable. Often investors have been overwhelmed by the conception of complex securities. The law not the consent of the Federal Council and is to be decided by the Parliament in this parliamentary term, it means from the Ministry of Justice.