Wertpapieraufsichtsbehörden

Wertpapieraufsicht, or securities supervision, denotes the public authority or regulatory framework responsible for overseeing securities markets and the institutions that participate in them. It covers the licensing, surveillance, and enforcement activities aimed at ensuring orderly trading, transparent disclosure, and prudent market conduct. The term is commonly used in German-speaking countries to describe the national authorities that supervise banks, brokers, asset managers, exchanges, and issuers of securities, as well as the infrastructure that supports trading, clearing, and settlement.

Its core objectives are to maintain market integrity, protect investors, promote confidence and competition, and contribute to financial stability. Key areas of oversight include authorization and ongoing supervision of market participants (investment firms, banks, asset managers), approval of securities prospectuses and listed companies’ disclosures, regulation of trading venues and clearing systems, and monitoring of corporate actions and financial reporting.

Regulators employ a range of powers and tools, such as licensing and withdrawal of licenses, setting capital and risk management requirements, enforcing conduct of business rules, conducting surveillance and investigations, imposing sanctions or prohibitions, and mandating remedial actions. In cases of systemic risk or market abuse, emergency measures and cross-border cooperation may be invoked.

Although formulation and institutions differ by country, BaFin (Germany) is a prominent example of a Wertpapieraufsicht body; in Austria the FMA, and in Switzerland FINMA perform similar functions. At the European level, ESMA coordinates securities supervision under MiFIR and MiFID II, facilitating cooperation among national authorities.