American University International Law Review Volume 11 | Issue 1 Article 5 1996 Finanzplatz Deutschland: Germany Enacts Insider Trading Legislation Ursula C. Pfeil Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/auilr Part of the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Pfeil, Ursula C. "Finanzplatz Deutschland: Germany Enacts Insider Trading Legislation." American University International Law Reivew 11, no. 1 (1996): 137-193. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Washington College of Law Journals & Law Reviews at Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in American University International Law Review by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ American University Washington College of Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. FINANZPLATZ DEUTSCHLAND: GERMANY ENACTS INSIDER TRADING LEGISLATION Ursula C. Pfeil* INTRODUCTION On August 1, 1994, Germany's financial markets took a leap into the world of Anglo-Saxon financial culture' as the Second Financial Mar- kets Promotion Act (Zweites Finanzmarktf6rderungsgesetz), legislation restructuring German financial markets and outlawing insider trading,3 became effective.4 After years of harboring an insider corporate culture, regulated only by a voluntary code of conduct on corporate behavior and insider dealings,' Germany, in the face of internal and external pressures, became the last major financial center to adopt legislation prohibiting insider trading.6 The new insider trading prohibition in Ger- * J.D. candidate, May 1996, Washington College of Law, American University. 1. John Eisenhammer, View from Frankfurt: Learning How To Be Held To Ac- count; John Eisenhammer Watches German Companies Try to Cope With Sharp Changes to Share Trading Laws, THE INDEPENDENT, Aug.