Germany

The Wertpapierhandelsgesetz (WpHG) is the fundamental legislative act in Germany, aimed at investor protection, confidence-building, and the structural soundness of its securities and derivative market. It is enforced strictly under the sovereign public supervision of BaFin, where the WpHG creates a complete set of legal guidelines for all trading activities, whether within or outside the organized stock exchange. The broad jurisdiction of the law includes investment services firms, issuers, investors, and market infrastructures. This act is the fundamental legal basis which implements the EU investor protection laws into the German corporate law and gives the regulator authority to ban trading, warn investors publicly, and conduct an audit of market operators.