Update: notifications to be submitted starting Tuesday afternoon CEST (27 March 2012)

Net short positions that exist on 26 March 2012 and have not yet been notified under the General Decree or that arise on 26 March 2012 are to be notified and/or published for the first time. Net short positions are to be notified by the end of 27 March 2012, (12 midnight) and, where they are also subject to the publication requirement, to be published within the above period. The notification system (MVP Portal) of BaFin will not be available before Tuesday afternoon CEST (27 March 2012). When applying for participation in the specialised procedure for net short positions, please note that an active pop-up blocker blocks automatically generated PDF files (e.g. the application form for the specialised procedure). Please deactivate the pop-up blocker or open the PDF file manually by clicking on the download link. Please print out the application form (PDF file), sign it and send it to BaFin via fax or mail, enclosing any additional documents required. If you are unable to register on the MVP Portal due to technical problems or language barrier issues, the following exemption applies to the notification requirement from 26 March to 1 April 2012: In individual cases, the notification requirement is deemed to be fulfilled if the notification is submitted to BaFin by fax (+49 (0)228 4108 1717) by using the form below within the period prescribed in section 30i of the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG). The notification must be submitted electronically through the MVP Portal as soon as possible.

Section 30i of the WpHG replaces the General Decree on transparency requirements of BaFin for the shares of ten selected companies of 4 March 2010. As of 26 March 2012, the notification and publication requirements for net short positions will pertain to all shares admitted to trading on the regulated market of a German stock exchange.

The Regulation on Net Short Positions introduces details on calculating net short positions as well as an electronic notification and publication procedure. For the notifications, BaFin will make available an electronic notification procedure through its Reporting and Publishing Portal (Melde- und Veröffentlichungsportal – MVP). No later than when the first notification is submitted, a successful registration on the Reporting and Publishing Portal of BaFin and a registration for the specialised procedure for net short positions are necessary to be able to notify BaFin of net short positions electronically.

Notifications may be submitted by the person or entity subject to the notification requirements either itself, through its contact person or through an external third party. For notifications to be clearly attributed to the person or entity subject to the notification requirement, each person or entity subject to the notification requirement as well as their contact persons or external third parties must identify themselves to BaFin once, at the latest when the first notification is submitted. For this purpose, the application for the specialised procedure is to be printed out after being transmitted electronically, signed and then sent without undue delay to BaFin by fax or post with further documents required for identification. Once the written documentation has been received, BaFin compares the data provided electronically with the documentation submitted. In the event of successful verification, BaFin activates the notifying party’s account for the specialised procedure. From that point in time, the notifications are no longer deemed to be preliminary. BaFin informs both the reporting party and the person or entity subject to the notification requirement of such account activation.

For the notifying party’s account to be activated by BaFin as soon as possible (so that the notifications are no longer deemed preliminary), users can now register in advance without submitting a notification. Since a great number of persons or entities subject to the notification requirement and users can be expected, BaFin recommends using the opportunity of advance registration.

With regard to the technical details of the notification procedure, BaFin has published an IT information sheet.

Please direct any questions regarding the notification procedure exclusively to:

phone: +49 (0)228/4108-4004

or

e-mail: leerverkaeufe@bafin.de