German Legislation Creates Financial Stability Commission

German legislation that took effect on January 1, 2013 created the Financial Stability Commission to issue warnings and recommend corrective action if threats to Germany’s financial stability arise. The Financial Stability Act also created the Consumer Advisory Council to ensure, for the first time, that consumer issues will play a larger role in the regulation of German securities markets by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)

The Financial Stability Commisison will consist of representatives from the Bundesbank, the Federal Ministry of Finance and BaFin. It will also include one representative of the Financial Market Stabilization Agency, who will not have any voting rights. The Bundesbank is tasked with analyzing all relevant factors in order to identify threats to financial stability, suggest respective warnings or recommendations for corrective measures and submit such warnings or recommendations to the Financial Stability Commission. Under the new regime, the Commission thus ensures that a transparent dialogue takes place between the financial institutions relevant to the regulation of the German financial market and system. 

As regards cooperation between BaFin and the Bundesbank, the legislation stipulates a duty to keep each other informed of any observations, findings and assessments that BaFin and the Bundesbank require to perform their respective functions. In addition, the Bundesbank now has the right to obtain information from financial corporations if the information required to perform its functions cannot be obtained from BaFin or other authorities.