• GE BaFin imposed fines totaling €1,600,000 on NBSH Acquisition LLC on 27 May 2024.
• The company violated obligations of section 33(1) of the German Securities trading act (WpHG) by not submitting substantial shareholding notifications within the prescribed period.
• The administrative fine order issued by GE BaFin is final and binding.

Violations

• Shareholders must notify the issuer and BaFin within 4 trading days if voting rights touch certain thresholds; a reporting form must be used for voting rights notification.
• This is regulated in section 12 (1) of Securities trading notification ordinance (WpAV).
• If a reporting party fails to notify the issuer and GE BaFin in good time if its shares exceed or fall below certain thresholds, it violates section 33 (1) sentence 1 of WpHG.
• GE BaFin can punish substantial shareholding disclosure failures with a fine with a maximum penalty of up to €10mn or up to 5% of the company in question's total turnover.
• Obligation to notify voting rights serves to ensure transparency of the capital market.
• Intended to increase attractiveness of Germany as a financial center in international competition and strengthen investor confidence in the functioning of the stock market.