File a complaint against a financial services company

Do you believe that a company has violated the German Capital Investment Code? Then you can file a complaint with the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). To do this, you can use the general complaint procedure.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is responsible for protecting consumers as a whole in the area of financial services. You can only file complaints with BaFin about a potential grievance at a company in the financial services sector that is under BaFin's supervision. BaFin cannot refund money that you have lost, for example, through securities transactions.
It also has no effect on statutory or contractual deadlines, such as payment, reporting, or limitation periods, if you submit a complaint. To ensure that you do not suffer any disadvantages, you must independently ensure that you comply with such deadlines, regardless of the review by BaFin. In cases of doubt, it is advisable to seek legal advice.

In the event of a dispute, BaFin offers the parties involved the option of settling the dispute out of court, in addition to the complaint procedure, provided your complaint case is suitable for this. 
Regardless of which body is responsible for resolving a specific dispute, all procedures share certain principles:

• Arbitration proceedings are mostly conducted in writing.
• Before arbitration proceedings, you should generally have lodged a written complaint with the company or institution concerned.
• The conciliation procedure itself is generally free of charge for you as a consumer.
• If you do not agree with the arbitration award, you can still opt for the standard legal process, meaning you can sue the institution in question.

BaFin is not responsible for handling complaints regarding

• the statutory health, accident, or pension insurance, or a municipal loss compensation scheme,
• the Securities and Exchange Commission,
• a few smaller insurance companies that operate only regionally and are subject to state supervision, 
• Alternative funds, provided they do not fall under the Investment Code, the Securities Prospectus Act, or the Capital Investment Act, 
• Intermediaries of investment funds and other financial service providers that do not conduct license-requiring business under the German Banking Act.
• Restrictions also exist for foreign companies.

For complaints under the German Capital Investment Code, you can use the online complaint form. To do so, use the „BaFin Online Complaint Form“ service.

• When you submit the complaint, you will be guided through the form and asked to provide the necessary information
• The following information is requested:
  • Your name and address
  • If filing a complaint on behalf of another person: the name and address of the person concerned
  • Name and address of the affected company
  • If you have a complaint about a credit or financial services institution:
    • Type of business relationship, such as a securities account, checking account, or savings account
    • Account or customer number
    • Name of the account holder, if it is not you
  • For complaints related to the purchase of securities:
    • Securities identification number: WKN or ISIN
  • If you wish to file a complaint against an asset management company:
    • The full name of the investment fund that may be affected, as well as its WKN or ISIN and the name of the custodian.

BaFin typically reviews complaints in several steps:

• First, she will determine whether your case can already be assessed based on the information you have provided and the documents you have submitted.
• If not, BaFin will investigate the matter further. To this end, it will request a statement from the company in question. As a rule, BaFin will forward your complaint letter to the company.
• The company is commenting on your complaint to BaFin.
• BaFin is reviewing the company's statement based on regulatory standards and will decide whether and, if so, to what extent further steps against the company are necessary. However, due to its mandate and duty of confidentiality, BaFin generally will not inform you of the outcome of its review.
• You will definitely receive a final letter regarding your complaint. Provided the company agrees, BaFin will also forward its statement regarding your complaint to you.

• You can file a complaint at any time. 
• Please note that statutory or contractual deadlines—such as payment deadlines, reporting deadlines, or statutes of limitations—continue to run even if you file a complaint.

Section 342 KAGB, Section 4b FinDAG

• administrative lawsuit