Investment Services Regulation in Germany and Japan

Abstract

This article studies the protection of retail and professional investors when financial products are sold or when investment advice is given. To this end, it clarifies the similarities and differences in the legal setting governing investment services firms in Germany and Japan, with a particular focus on a) the persons to be protected, b) information to be provided and c) private enforcement. Although regulatory structures are largely divergent in these two jurisdictions, the legal situation converges in several important points in relation to lawmaking in the European Union and the United States. Those convergences appear informative for the development of laws in jurisdictions other than Germany and Japan.

Note: This article is published in the Max Planck Private Law Research Paper Series with the permission of the rights owner, De Gruyter. It is freely accessible on the basis of a licence with an OA-option funded by the MPG, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.

Keywords: Investment services in Germany and Japan, regulatory frame, investor protection, information duties, suitability rule, conflict of interests, private enforcement, comparison of law