five years Ago, the wind turbine manufacturer Prokon filed for insolvency proceedings. Thousands of small investors lost a part of their money. In the case of Prokon, how dangerous investments on the unregulated capital market.
Six percent return or more, with such a high percentage is Offered to advertise for years, financial intermediaries and companies for Investments in shipping containers, wind farms or forests. With high returns and security promises they lure investors to put their money in closed-end funds, participation rights or subordinated loans.
Windy return of Prokon
But not infrequently the seductive dream-products from the world of the Grey capital market turn out to be as windy offers. So the wind farm developer Prokon lured the investors with bonus shares, that would yield up to eight per cent return. But when the business slowed down, a lot of customers to their enjoyment of rights. Prokon slipped into insolvency. The roughly 75,000 investors, who had invested 1.4 billion in Prokon, lost a good 40% of your bet.
in the Meantime, the wind power company from Itzehoe, has dared a new start and a bond is issued with a 3.5 percent interest. The revenue should accrue to the previous profit-sharing rights-holders. If you ever again your invested capital is uncertain.
the P&R and the bogus Container
An even worse air number was the collapse of the shipping container lessor’s P&R in the past year. P&R is sold a Container that did not exist. Of the 1.6 million displaced containers, a Million didn’t exist. The money from new customers were not used for the purchase of new containers, but for the payout old investors. But at some point, the snow ball does not work anymore-System. At the end of March 2018 P&R went bankrupt.
It is probably the largest investment scandal on the Grey capital market. Approximately 54,000 savers, including many seniors, have been entrusted to P&R 3.5 billion euros. Much of the money is now gone.
Prokon and P&R are not the only examples of how risky the grey capital market. Also in the case of the failure of the Frankfurt real estate group S&K, the financial company Infinus, the container lessor Magellan and the closed-end real estate Fund provider segments, investors suffered heavy losses. Many of the products offered on the grey capital market, the investors in the event of insolvency later than other creditors. In the extreme case, the total loss is imminent. On a consumer point guards.
small investors protection act has not helped
in Spite of the warnings: Why were not able to prevent the scandals? Why step in the financial supervision does not? Although there are since 2015 – as a reaction to the Prokon-Broke – a retail investor protection act, which regulates the unregulated capital market. Providers must now submit for your products, sales brochures. The BaFin can prohibit aggressive advertising and even financial products, if you are at a disadvantage to the investor of a structural nature.
However, in the recent case of P&R, the new rules helped. BaFin saw with the direct participation of a Container does not have the structural disadvantage of investors. “BaFin will examine more of the formalities of prospectuses, but not whether a system is economically viable or not,” says Wolf fire, team leader of the Grey capital market in the consumer Central Hesse. The financial Supervisory authority stresses that the consideration of the Prospectus is not a seal of approval and permission of the business activity.
recently from the Green politician Gerhard Schick, founded the citizens movement for “financial turning point” enough. It calls on the BaFin, finally Wake up and convey to the consumer protection as a serious job. The BaFin did very well, according to the retail investor protection act, a far-reaching right to information and the prohibition of rights, writes to boerse.ARD.de Stephan Loipfinger, a founding member of the financial turnaround and operator of the Internet portal Investmentcheck.de. Especially for large cases, such as P&R the supervision of the business would provide model questions, and so the scandal may be able to prevent it. Products, should be accurate and in-depth to be tested.
Increasingly, scams on the Internet
Long fraud in the Grey capital market is no longer limited to investment products for investments in shipping containers, real estate or wind farms. In the meantime, rip-off is increasingly taking place on Online platforms. A month ago, the Federal criminal police office and the BaFin warned of dubious Online traders, especially in the case of CFDs and Forex Trading. A Scam software the account movements and the supposedly high profits would appear, have observed the BKA and BaFin. Indeed, but the paid-up invested money never. The trading platform is a Fake. “This is the “grey” capital market 2.0,” warns consumer advocates fire. All the same, The distribution of so-called binary options, which has also been used as a Scam, has banned the BaFin now officially.
expert Loipfinger looks, especially when Equity-based crowdfunding in the Internet transparency-deficits. “Investors often do not know what is happening with your money here.” Most of the Investments in this field are subordinate constructs. Loipfinger feared that many of the things in this area soon burst like a soap bubble.
financial test warns of UDI
in the Meantime, the Foundation goods test before another Grey-capital markets-service provider: UDI, a Bank warns of independent direct sales for environmental investments. Since 1998, UDI has raised a half a billion Euro, mainly for wind power plants, biogas plants and solar projects. Many customers who have invested in the offers of the Eco-company, according to Stiftung Warentest anxious now to your money. As the magazine “financial test” reported on Monday, interest payments in the case of eight UDI Offered under the Plan. The repayment increases, therefore, in the case of two Offerings, which have UDI. “It’s not looking good,” says the magazine.
1/8 The biggest scandals in the Grey capital market
