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On 22 January 2024, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) imposed an administrative fine amounting to 200,000 euros on Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft. The fine was imposed because the company had contravened obligations under the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG).
The company failed to publish an announcement stating the date from which and the website on which the annual financial report for the financial year 2021 and the half-yearly financial report for the financial year 2022 were made publicly available.
Annual financial reports and half-yearly financial reports are available in the Company Register. However, companies must provide information about when and where their financial reports are published in addition to this.
An appeal may be lodged against the administrative fine order.
Background information:
Financial reports provide information on companies’ assets, financial position and results of operations. This information is important to investors because it allows them to make informed investment decisions.
Companies such as Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft that are domiciled in Germany and issue securities that are traded on an organised market in Germany must publish an announcement about the date from which and the website where their annual financial reports and half-yearly financial reports are made publicly available, in addition to their availability in the company register. Such announcements must be published no later than four months after the end of each reporting period and before the annual financial report; for half-yearly financial reports, the announcement must be published no later than three months after the end of each reporting period and before the half-yearly financial report.
Failure on the part of a company to publish financial reports and the corresponding announcements, or failure to do so within the prescribed period, constitutes a contravention of the Securities Trading Act. BaFin may in each case impose administrative fines on companies that fail to comply with this obligation. The maximum amount for this fine is 10 million euros or up to 5% of total revenue..
