Finanzaufsicht: Aufseher brummen Volkswagen Millionenstrafe auf

The German financial services supervisory authority, Bafin, has fined Volkswagen for alleged breach of disclosure obligations with a hefty fine of one million euros. According to Bafin, the company must pay 1.2 million euros. The company's forecast for the 2023 fiscal year had significantly exceeded market expectations. Consequently, Bafin argues that Volkswagen should have immediately disclosed this insider information in an "ad-hoc" manner to the market participants in financial markets.

However, the company only published the information in a press release. Volkswagen still has the opportunity to challenge the fine. Börsennotierte Unternehmen (stock-registered companies) in Germany are subject to the so-called ad-hoc public disclosure obligation. This means that not publicly disclosed insider information that can significantly impact the share price must be published immediately ("ad-hoc").

According to Bafin, this also includes a significant deviation of business figures from market expectations. The ad-hoc public disclosure obligation is part of the Market Abuse Regulation. If a company violates this, Bafin can penalize it with a fine of up to 2.5 million euros or up to two percent of its turnover. Bafin imposed the fine on March 3, 2023.

On that day, Volkswagen had surprised investors with an optimistic outlook for the year, causing the Dax-listed VW share to jump more than 10 percent.