BaFin Fines Barclays €1.65 Million for Voting-Rights Reporting Failures | LeapRate | Online Trading Industry News, Broker Intelligence & Fintech Analysis
Barclays PLC has been fined €1.65 million by German regulator BaFin for failing to submit mandatory voting-rights disclosures on time in more than two dozen cases.
BaFin said the penalty, issued on 10 March, related to a “breach of supervisory duties” after Barclays failed 26 times to notify both the issuer and the regulator of changes in its voting rights between June 2022 and March 2023.
The regulator stated that the bank “failed to submit voting rights notifications within the prescribed period”.
Under German law, shareholders must inform both the issuer and BaFin within four trading days when their holdings cross specified thresholds. The requirement is designed to support transparency and strengthen confidence in the functioning of the German market. BaFin noted that the rules help make Germany “as a financial centre more attractive in the face of international competition”.
The regulator said the case constituted a breach of section 130 (1) of the German Act on Breaches of Administrative Regulations in connection with several provisions of the German Securities Trading Act. It added that the fine reflected Barclays’ failure to implement adequate organisational measures to prevent or impede the reporting failures.
BaFin can impose fines of up to €10 million or 5% of total revenue when sanctioning legal entities. The decision may still be appealed by the bank.
