Frequently Asked Questions – Federal Gazette (2024)

Insofar as legal views are set forth on this site, we give notice that these are not binding and that the courts ultimately have to decide.

What is the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger)?

The Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) is an official promulgation and announcement organ of the Federal Republic of Germany and is published by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The operator of the Bundesanzeiger is the Bundesanzeiger Verlag, which acts as the judicial authority for this purpose.

Where do I find what?

You can find all the areas you can access in the Federal Gazette under "How it works - Contents" or via the search function.

How do I search?

We offer a full-text search and an advanced search. You can search through the entire Federal Gazette by specific terms. A full text search via the publication content is not possible for accounting documents and company reports - i.e. for publications in the "Accounting/Financial Reports" section. Using the advanced search, you can further refine the search according to specific criteria, such as publication timeframe or area.

What is the best way to print?

You can print search results or documents via your browser. When printing accounting documents, it is advisable to set the page layout to landscape format in the print menu. An optimised print version is usually available.

Why can’t I add any bookmarks?

When searching on our sites, you are navigating in a so-called “session” for security reasons. This expires after 30 minutes if you do not make any further entries. The same applies to a bookmark that you add for a publication that you find.

Can I subscribe to publications in the Federal Gazette?

Yes, a so-called “Info Service” is available to you. This has to do with a fee-based offer under which you can put together your electronic subscription from individual areas of the Federal Gazette. We deliver to you the corresponding publications on an up-to-date basis by email or as a link for downloading. You can find more information in the area “Info Service” and in the area “How it works”.

See Also

European Forum of Official Gazettes - Ireland - European Forum of Official Gazettes - Publications Office of the EU

How do I submit documents and records, and what do I have to pay attention to when I do?

To do so, use the Publication Platform, which is available at www.publikations-plattform.de. There you can also find all necessary information.

How do I deposit or publish annual financial statements?

To do so, use either the special order forms available on the Publication Platform or a mass interface (web service). You can find more information about this at https://publikations-plattform.de in the areas “Useful information” and “Work aids & standards”.

Where do I find deposited annual financial statements?

Deposited annual financial statements cannot be researched in the Federal Gazette. Instead, information about them can be retrieved only from the Company register.

What is contained under “Filing announcements (fiscal years prior to 1 January 2006)”?

Under this type of publication, you can find announcements that refer to annual financial statements with fiscal years beginning prior to 1 January 2006 that were filed with the competent district court.

This type of publication does not include annual financial statements with balance sheet dates on or after 31 December 2012 that were filed by micro-entities with the Federal Gazette pursuant to the Act on the Amendment of Accounting Law with Respect to Micro-Entities (Kleinstkapitalgesellschaften-Bilanzrechtsänderungsgesetz, MicroBilG). Information about them can be retrieved from the Company Register.

Where do I find further information?

Under “How it works”, we have compiled information for you about topics like “Contents”, “Searching”, “Publishing”, “Registration”, “Newsletter”, “Info Service” and “Shareholder Forum”. In addition, you can find further information on the publication platform in the "Useful information" and "Work aids and standards" sections.

Questions and Answers about the Official Section

How do I search in the Official Section?

We offer a full-text search and an advanced search. You can search through the entire Official Section by specific terms.
Using the advanced search you can further refine the search according to specific criteria, such as reference citation or authority/court.

Why am I not able to find older publications of the Official Section?

Until March 2012 the publications of the Official Section, apart from a few exceptions, were published in the printed version of the Federal Gazette. Since 01 April 2012 the Federal Gazette in its current online form replaced the printed version of the Federal Gazette. Publications which were published in the printed version of the Federal Gazette are not published in the Federal Gazette on the internet.

Why do PDF files of publications in the Official Section contain a qualified electronic sealing?

This is done for security reasons. Using the qualified electronic sealing it can be verified whether the retrieved document actually comes from the Federal Gazette and is unchanged. If the electronic sealing has not been verified, a corresponding (warning) notice may appear when opening a PDF file. If you do not wish to verify the signature, ignore the (warning) notice. You can read, print, and store the PDF file as usual.

How do I verify the electronic sealing for publications in the Official Section?

The verification of the sealing can be done by means of the verification function integrated in Adobe Acrobat Reader (signature verification) or by means of another standard signature verification software. There are several providers on the internet where the sealing/signature can be checked online free of charge (i.e. without installing any software). In order to verify the signature, the relevant PDF file must be stored on your computer.

In the event of technical questions concerning the electronic sealing, please send an email to sig@rt.bundesanzeiger.de.

How can I submit publications for the Official Section?

The official section of the Bundesanzeiger is for official announcements, tenders and notices by the authorities.

Publication requests must be submitted to the editorial staff of the Federal Gazette in the Federal Office of Justice (see imprint for address details). Information on submitting publications and notices can be found on the the Official Section site of the Federal Gazette.

Questions & answers about net short positions

How do I search for net short positions?

You can research by position holder, issuer name, and ISIN. If you select “More search options”, you can refine your search according to additional criteria – like position or date – and research in a targeted manner by specific publications of net short positions. In addition, you can search by historicised data where there are no current positions for a position holder/ISIN.

What is displayed in the history for a position?

If you select the link “History” for a publication, there you will find all publications previously made in the Federal Gazette about the relevant position (for amended publications, only the amendment itself, not the original publication). The first line contains the most current position.

How do I find the history for a position if there is no current position for a position holder/ISIN?

Select “More search options”, tick the box “Also find historicised data”, enter a search term, and start the search. The search results will then display all historicised publications.

Questions & answers about Fondsdata

What is Fondsdata?

Fondsdata is the platform for investment funds in the Federal Gazette. Here you can find all information about investment funds at a glance. Fondsdata links fund price publications with fund publications in the Federal Gazette, as well as with other data about investment funds.

How do I publish fund prices in Fondsdata?

Using the Publication Platform, you can transmit fund prices and documents for publication in Fondsdata. You can find more information there in the area “Useful information - fund prices”. If interested, please contact the publisher (email: fondsdata@bundesanzeiger.de).

How often are fund prices published in Fondsdata?

Fund prices are continuously published in Fondsdata from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (other than holidays)

How do I search for funds?

You can find fund prices published on an up-to-date basis on the homepage of Fondsdata. Using the search function, you can search for further prices and tax data about an ISIN, WKN, fund name or provider.
You can also find individual fund price publications using the quick search in the Capital Market area and using the advanced search of the Federal Gazette.

How do I view fund profiles?

By clicking on a fund name in the list of up-to-date fund prices or in the search results, you can get to the respective fund profile with current data, basic data, further publications, documents, link to FPP, information about fund history, and historical price data.

Where do I find information about a fund history or historical prices?

If available, you can find this information in the respective fund profile.

Why can’t I find the fund profile for a specific fund?

1. The fund does not publish in Fondsdata.
2. The fund profile, including all documents, is not visible until after the first fund price publication has been made for the relevant ISIN.

Why are documents that I have transmitted not being displayed in the fund profile?

Documents are only displayed in the fund profile if the first fund price has been published for the relevant ISIN.

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