052/2026: Amendment to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse

1. Introduction

On the basis of the regular fee review in accordance with the Hessian Administrative Costs Act (HVwKostG), the Exchange Council of the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (FWB^®, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) decided on 22 October 2026 to make a comprehensive amendment to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (hereafter: ”Fee Regulations”) in order to reflect increased administrative audit and administrative expenses in a causal manner and at the same time to strengthen the attractiveness of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in a targeted manner. 

With this circular, we would like to inform you about the most important aspects of the amendment. For details, please refer to the Nineteenth Amendment Ordinance to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse. The Amendment Ordinance has been published on the website of Deutsche Börse AG under the following path:

Rules & Regulations > Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse

The changes affect issuers of shares, certificates representing shares, exchange-traded products (ETPs; including exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs)), shares in domestic and foreign investment stock corporations and investment funds (including ETFs) and debt securities that are admitted or listed on the regulated market of the FWB or that seek admission or inclusion, as well as trading participants admitted to the FWB.

Effective date: 1 January 2027 and 1 January 2028

2. Required action

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the Amendment Ordinance. 

3. Details

With the Nineteenth Amendment Ordinance to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, the fees for the

• first-time admission of shares and certificates representing shares (IPO; § 11 (1) sentence 1 Fee Regulations), 
• admission of shares and certificates representing shares to the sub-area of the regulated market with further post-admission obligations (§ 11 (2) Fee Regulations), 
• admission of shares and certificates representing shares that are already admitted to the FWB (capital increase; § 11 (1) sentence 2 Fee Regulations), 
• listing of shares and certificates representing shares that are admitted to trading on the regulated market (§ 15 (1) Fee Regulations), 
• listing of shares in domestic and foreign investment stock corporations and investment funds admitted to trading on the regulated market (§ 15 (1) Fee Regulations) and 
• revocation of the admission of shares and certificates representing shares to the regulated market at the request of the issuer (revocation; § 13 (1) Fee Regulations) 

will be increased in line with the increased administrative burden.

Cancellation of variable fee components for shares and certificates representing shares without replacement 

Previously, the admission and listing fee for shares and certificates representing shares consisted of a basic fee and an additional variable fee component calculated according to market capitalisation (§§ 11 (1) subpara. 2 and 3, 15 (1) subpara. 2 Fee Regulations old version). With regard to the admission fee for the initial admission (IPO) and for subsequent admissions (capital increase) as well as for the annual listing fee, the variable fee component will henceforth be omitted without replacement. 

Exemption from the admission fee for growth companies (market capitalization up to €500 million)  

In order to strengthen Germany as a capital market location and to stimulate the IPO market in a targeted manner, the FWB is introducing fee exemptions for small and medium-sized growth companies. 

For issuers of shares whose market capitalization does not exceed €500 million, an admission fee will no longer be charged for the initial admission of shares to the regulated market and to the sub-sector of the regulated market with further post-admission obligations. The same applies to the admission of certificates representing shares (§  11 (1) subpara. 2 and 3, (2) sentence 2 Fee Regulations).

Elimination of quarterly instalments from the listing fee

In addition, the listing fee is no longer levied in quarterly instalments, but as a uniform, full annual fee and is calculated as standard within the first quarter for the current calendar year (§ 15 (2) Fee Regulations). 

Extension of the listing fee to securities with a definite maturity
 
The restriction of the listing fee to securities of no specific maturity will be abolished (§§ 1 (1) no. 4, 15 (1) Fee Regulations, title of Section V Fee Regulations). 

Introduction of separate fees for exchange-traded products 

In this context, a separate listing fee will be introduced for ETPs (§ 15 (1) Fee Regulation). In addition, a separate fee will also be introduced for ETPs for admission (§ 11 (2) Fee Regulation), inclusion (§ 12 (1) Fee Regulation) and revocation of admission (§ 13 (1), (2) and (3) Fee Regulation). ETPs include Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) and Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs). 

Elimination of a reduced fee for revocations of the admissions of debt securities 

The previous fee reduction, according to which a reduced fee was charged for the revocation of the admission of debt securities of an issuer if the admission of another debt security of the same issuer has already been revoked in the last twelve months (§ 13 (3) of the Fee Regulation). 

In addition, editorial changes will be made. 

Please refer to all changes to the Fee Regulations in the Nineteenth Amendment Ordinance to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, which can be found under the attached link.

Attachment:

• Nineteenth Amendment Ordinance to the Fee Regulations for the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse

Further information