Bafin admonishes Trade Republic

The online broker had temporarily suspended trading in some volatile shares. The financial supervisory authority does not like this at all.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) is investigating complaints from customers of the online broker Trade Republic. "In the last few days, we have received a large number of complaints from private investors about technical faults at Trade Republic. We are already investigating these", a spokeswoman said. The company has also been "emphatically" advised to comply with regulatory requirements and to provide customers with all services "in accordance with regulatory law and without disruption".

The Berlin start-up had reached the limits of its capacity due to the hype surrounding Gamestop shares and had temporarily suspended trading on Thursday. The share had previously risen sharply, costing some hedge funds a lot of money. The shares of AMC Entertainment, Black Berry, Nokia and Bed Bath & Beyond were also affected. Officially, the start-up initially stated that it wanted to protect investors. However, the first investors have already threatened legal action and reported the disruptions to Bafin.