The operator of a multilateral or organised trading facility (“trading venue operator“) can suspend trading in a financial instrument or can remove the financial instrument from trading should this appear to be necessary to safeguard orderly trading or to protect investor interests (section 73 (1) sentence 1 of the WpHG). This applies in particular if

1. the financial instrument no longer complies with the rules of the trading facility;
2. there is suspicion of market abuse within the meaning of Article 1 of the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation (MAR, Regulation (EU) No 596/2014), or of the non-disclosure of inside information in contravention of Article 17 of the MAR in respect of the financial instrument; or
3. a takeover bid has been published in respect of the issuer of the financial instrument.
   Where trading is suspended or financial instruments are excluded from trading under section 73 (1) sentence 1 of the WpHG, the trading venue operator must also suspend trading in derivatives that are related to the financial instruments or discontinue trading in these financial instruments (section 73 (1) sentence 2 of the WpHG).

The trading venue operator is obliged to publish its decisions to suspend financial instruments or remove them from trading on its website immediately (Article 3(1) in conjunction with Article 4(1) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1005).

Moreover, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1005 provides that the trading venue operator may only publish the decisions via other means if publication on the website occurs simultaneously or prior to this, thus ensuring that the information is made available to everyone at the same time.

Where financial instruments and related derivatives that are suspended or removed from trading are also traded on another domestic multilateral or organised trading facility or by a systematic internaliser, the suspension or removal from trading must also be ordered (section 73 (2) of the WpHG).

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and the other European supervisory authorities are obliged under Articles 32 and 52 of Regulation 2014/65/EU (MiFID II) to communicate all suspensions and removals of financial instruments from trading to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

ESMA uses this information to provide a database of all reported suspensions and removals of financial instruments from trading on its website.

Powers of the stock exchange management

With respect to exchange trading, section 25 (1) of the German Stock Exchange Act (Börsengesetz – BörsG) assigns comparable rights and duties to the stock exchange management. In relation to financial instruments, commodities or rights, the management may

1. suspend their trading if orderly stock exchange trading appears to be temporarily endangered or if such suspension appears advisable to protect the public; and
2. discontinue their trading if orderly stock exchange trading no longer appears to be guaranteed.

The management is obliged to publish these measures. Further details regarding publication are contained in the relevant stock exchange rules.

Stock exchanges must inform their competent (state) stock exchange supervisory authority and BaFin without undue delay. BaFin then submits the information to the ESMA database (see above).

BaFin is unable to answer any questions relating to suspensions of trading on the basis of section 25 of the BörsG. The individual stock exchanges may be able provide information on the reasons for suspensions.