Financial investment broker - Apply for permission

As a financial investment intermediary, you independently broker financial products to clients, receiving a commission from the provider of the financial product. If you receive your fee from the client, please apply for a licence as a fee-based financial investment adviser (see "More information"). You may not act as a financial investment intermediary and a fee-based financial investment adviser at the same time.
  • As a financial investment intermediary, you are restricted to certain financial products by the so-called area exception of the German Banking Act. The permit covers (optionally) three product categories:
  • Units or shares in domestic open-ended, investment funds, open EU investment funds or foreign open-ended investment funds that are may be distributed in accordance with the German Capital Investment Code are permitted
  • Units or shares in domestic closed-ended investment funds, closed-ended EU investment funds or foreign closed-ended investment funds that may be distributed in accordance with the German Capital Investment Code.Investment Act (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch) Asset investments
  • Asset investments within the scope of the Asset Investment Act, investment brokerage in the sense of the Banking Act (including participation loans, subordinated loans and crowd funding), on a commercial basis.

Register of Intermediaries
In addition to the licence, you must also be entered in the Register of Intermediaries. You can submit the application for this together with the permit application. Staff members of financial investment brokers, who perform tasks in the area of financial investment brokerage and consultation, must also be registered in the Register of Financial Investment Brokers.
The CCI Berlin is in charge of registrations for companies based in Berlin. (see „More information").

Exceptions
Intermediaries, who perform financial brokering activities solely as a service for providers or issuers of asset investments in the sense of the Asset Investment Act or of closed-end alternative investment funds in the sense of capital investment legislation are exempt from the licensing obligation. They are registered in a public register kept by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) (register of contractually bound brokers).

In the case of business partnerships (e. g. GbR, OHG, KG), each managing partners is considered a business person. In the case of legal entities (GmbH, UG or AG) permission is granted to the company.

Procedure:
  1. If you wish to open a financial investment brokerage business that requires a licence, you have to apply for a licence before starting your activity. The application can be submitted online. Please complete the application in full, upload the required documents and submit it.
  2. The responsible office will check your details and documents and request any missing evidence. You will receive instructions on the further procedure and will be informed of the processing status by e-mail.
  3. If all requirements are met and the necessary documents have been submitted, you will receive a fee notice and the licence by post. If not all requirements or necessary documents have been met, your application will be rejected and a fee will be charged. In this case, you can read the reason for the rejection in the notification from the responsible office.

You can also access this service online

Online processing

  • Do it online
    To use online processing, you must first register with a citizen or company account and can then log in with your access data.

Prerequisites

  • Personal reliability
    Reliability is verified based on various documents. The applicant must submit an excerpt from the Federal Central Criminal Register (certificate of good conduct) and an excerpt from the Commercial Central Register.
  • Orderly financial situation
    It is checked whether the applicant has debts (private or public) or whether insolvency proceedings are known.
  • Adequate insurance cover
    Proof of professional insurance cover for the business.
  • Expert knowledge
    Proof of successfully passed examination of competence before a CCI or a similar approved professional qualification.

Documents required

  • Application for a licence pursuant to § 34f of the Trade Regulations (GewO) (financial investment broker)
    You can submit your application online or you can use the form.
  • Identity document
    Identity card or other official identification document containing a photograph (not required for electronic applications).
    Residence permit, if the applicant is not an EU national
  • Certificate of good conduct for presentation to an authority
    To verify personal reliability, information from the Federal Central Register (certificate of good conduct) is required for submission to an authority (document type O).
    The information must not be older than three months.
  • Excerpt from the central business register for presentation to an authority
    To verify personal reliability, information from the central business register is required for submission to an authority (document type 9).
    The information must not be older than three months.
  • Information from the debtor register (central enforcement portal of the federal states)
    Information on entries can be requested online at the Central Enforcement Portal of the Federal States. (see "More information")
  • Information from the insolvency register
    • Two certificates are required for initiating insolvency proceedings for natural persons who are residents of Berlin. The first certificate for consumer insolvency proceedings must be applied for with the local court responsible for your place of residence, and the second one for regular insolvency proceedings is available from the District Court Charlottenburg Amtsgerichtsplatz 1, 14057 Berlin.
    • The District Court Charlottenburg, Amtsgerichtsplatz 1, 14057 Berlin is responsible for insolvency proceedings for legal entities and private trade companies based in Berlin.
    • Applicants residing / operating outside of Berlin please inform themselves about the respective responsibilities of the insolvency courts via the central place and court directory (see "More Information").
  • Proof of competence
    Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Industrie- und Handleskammer or IHK) proof of professional qualification or another comparable recognised professional qualification.
  • Professional liability insurance
    Confirmation from an insurance company that the financial investment broker has professional liability insurance cover.
    The confirmation must be no older than three months.
  • Up-to-date excerpt from the Trade Register
    Registered companies please submit a current excerpt from the commercial register when applying. Legal entities in the process of formation (GmbH, AG) must submit the articles of association.

Forms

Fees

EUR 90.00 to EUR 1,740.00 per effort

Legal basis

Average time to process request

1 month

More information

Notes on responsibility

The application for approval must be submitted to the Public Order Office that is responsible for the place of business. If the place of business is not yet known, approval can also be applied for with the Public Order Office that is responsible for the applicant’s place of residence.

Your point of contact

Please select a location to make an appointment

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