National Legislation and European Harmonization
With the foundation of the German Empire (Deutsches Reich) came the
fulfillment of the constitutional requirements, with the abandonment of liberal
views the political requirements, and with the bad outcomes of the former
regulatory approaches the legislative requirements to create an Exchange Act:
the Börsengesetz (1896).140
137 “Mit Recht wird geltend gemacht, daß der falschen Strömung des Kapitals in erster Linie
dadurch begegnet werden könne und müsse, daß der sogenannte ‚
kleine Mann’ im allgemeinen wie im eigenen Interesse nicht nur nicht darauf hinzuweisen, vielmehr davor zu
bewahren sei, in diese für seine wirthschaftliche Existenz bedrohliche Strömung sich zu
begeben. Die Geldanlage in Aktien ist stets eine gewagte. Das kleine Kapital, mühsam erworben, vielleicht die einzige Ersparniß langjähriger Arbeit, muß sicher angelegt werden;
es sollte auf die Anlage in guten Hypotheken, Staatspapieren, Pfand- oder Rentenbriefen,
Kommunal- oder Prioritätsobligationen oder in Sparkassen oder auf die Betheiligung an
wirthschaftlichen Genossenschaften, welche die eigene Erwerbsthätigkeit fördern, verwiesen sein. Die Hoffnung auf höheren Zins sollte nicht das Kapital gefährden, zumal sie
meist trügt.
” Allgemeine Begründung, REICHSTAGS-DRUCKSACHE 21/1884, Mar. 7, 1884,
supp. vol., at 215, 248 (Ger.).
138 “Wir wollen hauptsächlich die kleinen Leute fernhalten von den Aktienunternehmungen.”
Hartmann, REICHSTAGS-PLENARPROTOKOLL [Parliamentary record], June 23, 1884 at 962
(Ger.).
139 “Wir wollen nicht, daß die kleinen Leute Aktien haben.” Von und zu Aufseß, id. at 964
(Ger.).
140 Börsengesetz [Exchange Act], June 22, 1896, RGBL. at 157-76 (Ger.).
7:513 (2013) Stock Exchange Law 543
Our overview of the main events and factors in the history of commercial
exchanges after industrialization will again focus on Germany as one prime
example and, given the great amount of economic, social, political, and legal
developments, concentrate on the Exchange Act and its evolution over the
last twelve decades.
1. Creation of the German Exchange Act
The Exchange Act follows one of the most thorough legislative preparations in the history of German commercial law: the work of the Exchange
Commission (Börsen-Enquete-Kommission).
141 The public took great interest in
the work of the Commission, and none other than Max Weber (1864-1920),
who later became a celebrated sociologist and political economist, discussed
the Exchange Commission’s main results at great length in a series of articles
(1895/1896).142 The Exchange Act that was finally enacted, though, made
little use of the opportunities that the long deliberations of the Commission
had offered, mainly due to the careless preparation of the first draft and the
many conflicts that occurred in the legislative process.
143 It is therefore not
without justification that Arthur Nußbaum (1877-1964), the legendary commercial lawyer,144 wrote in his influential commentary on the Exchange Act
that the Act was “in formal respects . . . to such an extent failed as perhaps no
other of the newer federal laws” (1910).
145 Julius von Gierke (1875-1960)
considered the Act a “total monstrosity” even decades later (1958).
146
141 The Commission’s main publications are as follows: Börsen-Enquete-Kommission, 1-4
Stenographische Berichte (1892-1893); Sitzungs-Protokolle (1893); Bericht und Beschlüsse der Börsen-Enquête-Commission (1894).
142 Max Weber, Die Ergebnisse der Deutschen Börsenenquete, 43 ZHR 83-219, 457-514 (1895)
(Ger.); Max Weber, Die Ergebnisse der Deutschen Börsenenquete, 44 ZHR 29-74 (1896) (Ger.);
Max Weber, Die Ergebnisse der Deutschen Börsenenquete, 45 ZHR 69-156 (1896) (Ger.).
143 For the details of how the Exchange Act was created, see JOHANN CH. MEIER, DIE ENTSTEHUNG DES BÖRSENGESETZES VOM 22. JUNI 1896 (1992) (Ger.); WOLFGANG SCHULZ,
DAS DEUTSCHE BÖRSENGESETZ: DIE ENTSTEHUNGSGESCHICHTE UND WIRTSCHAFTLICHEN AUSWIRKUNGEN DES BÖRSENGESETZES VON 1896 (1994) (Ger.).
144 For a critical acclaim, see Klaus J. Hopt, Arthur Nußbaum (1877-1964), in FESTSCHRIFT 200
JAHRE JURISTISCHE FAKULTÄT DER HUMBOLDT-UNIVERSITÄT ZU BERLIN 545-60 (2010)
(Ger.).
145 “[I]n formeller Beziehung ... in solchem Maße mißlungen wie wohl kein anderes der
neueren Reichsgesetze.” ARTHUR NUßBAUM, KOMMENTAR ZUM BÖRSENGESETZ xxviii
(1910) (Ger.).
146 “[V]öllige Mißgeburt”. JULIUS VON GIERKE, HANDELSRECHT UND SCHIFFAHRTSRECHT
518 (8th ed. 1958).
544 Virginia Law & Business Review 7:51
3 (2013)
After all, the Exchange Act is at least properly labeled: The Act consists
almost completely of provisions that are stock exchange law in the technical
sense.147 Its focus is on the exchange as an institution and the direct users of
the exchange—that is, brokers and dealers as well as issuers. Investor protection is only a secondary objective; the first goal is to strengthen the functioning of the exchange and of the trading process. This already becomes perceptible just from the titles of the Act’s six sections: (I) General Provisions on
Exchanges and Their Organs (sections 1-28); (II) Price Fixing and BrokerDealer Activities (sections 29-35); (III) Admission of Securities to Trading
(sections 36-47); (IV) Derivatives Trading (sections 48-69); (V) Brokerage
Services (sections 70-74); and (VI) Criminal Sanctions and Final Provisions
(sections 75-82).
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