German Electronic Securities Act

Abstract

On 10 June 2021, the Electronic Securities Act came into force in Germany, with which a great leap towards the modernization and dematerialization of German securities law was made. For the first time in Germany, the issue of securities in electronic form is possible without the need for a tangible securities certificate. With the emergence of two new types of (electronic) securities, new features were added to German (securities) law, which raise substantial questions, for instance, about the legal nature, issuance, and transference of electronic securities. By enabling electronic securities registers, the act also invites new actors into the ecosystem of the German financial market and modifies the role of already existing actors. As these registers can be based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), Germany has opened up to innovative technologies. Germany’s embrace of modern technology brings its securities law to the cutting edge (forefront) of the discipline and may create new opportunities for market participants but also pose new challenges for them as well as the regulator and supervisory authorities. The article addresses some of these issues and provides an overview of the legal framework for electronic securities. distributed ledger technology, electronic securities, Electronic Securities Act (Germany)