THE FINANCIAL SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY IN GERMANY

The present contribution aims to illustrate the German regulatory system in financial supervision, its structure and its flexibility to hold out against the storms of the perduring critical situation in the financial system. The bird’s eye view depicts a consolidated system, where a single regulator supervises the three segments of the financial market (securities stricto sensu, banks and insurance), and where the independence from the executive rather than being flaunted as the winning choice, has been set aside in favour of a “delegation of powers”, since the authority is a federal institution that belongs to the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Finance. In addition to the relevant role of the German Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdientleistungsaufsicht, hereinafter the Bafin) played at national level, it is noteworthy its relevant stature at international level, given the explicit mandate of the Bafin to engage in international administrative cooperation. The Bafin plays a key role in implementing the global financial standards set out in the Basel Accords. In the first part of the contribution, I will analyse the authority and its characteristics, particularly focusing on the element of the independence in legislation, on its interpretation in jurisprudence, and on its specifity in the national system. The second part of the contribution will tackle the other delicate aspect related to the regulatory authorities in Germany, the public administration liability in case of damages to third people, its constitutional grounds and the extensive interpretation of its mechanisms to the authority supervising financial markets. Some concluding remarks will lead this contribution to an end