Quality guarantee for private investors

Around 10,000 shares are traded in Frankfurt, of which around 1,000 are from German companies. With the quality guarantee for a larger selection of German and international stocks from the Frankfurt specialists, investors can be sure of getting a fair price in line with the market when buying and selling - as good as on the home market.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange offers investors a quality guarantee in trading shares and ETFs/ETPs. The specialists guarantee execution of buy and sell orders that is at least as good as the offer price on the stock's home market.

• For German blue chips, i.e. for all shares in the DAX, TecDAX and MDAX.
• International companies in the Euro Stoxx 50 and S&P 100.
• All ETFs and ETPs.
• Up to 7,500 euros, i.e. for almost all private investor orders.
• Comprehensible, as investors can call up the historical best bid and ask limits.
• With compensation, because the specialists will refund the difference between the guaranteed price and the executed price if the latter is worse.

The guarantee applies in principle to all orders up to a volume of 7,500 euros, the limit defined by the EU MIFID Directive for orders from private investors.

In terms of time, the specialists' offer takes effect during trading hours on the reference market, specifically from 5 minutes after opening until close of trading. However, if continuous trading in the security on the reference market is temporarily suspended or interrupted due to high volatility, the guarantee is of course also suspended for that long, as well as during regular auctions, e.g. at noon.

Comprehensible prices

The benchmark for the quality guarantee is the best bid and ask limit on the reference market. For German shares, this is Xetra, for the other European shares in the Euro Stoxx 50, the bid prices set on exchanges such as Paris, London, Madrid, Milan or Amsterdam apply, and for US shares, NYSE or NASDAQ count.

The bid prices of the U.S. shares are converted at the current euro/US dollar exchange rate. In addition, a premium of 0.25 percent is included to cover the specialists' exchange rate risks.

Check your execution

On the securities' data sheets, you can check the best bid/ask limits at the time you place your order. To do so, go to the Price History tab and the Bid/Ask Price History sub-item.

Guaranteed compensation

If the price of an execution does not meet the requirements of the quality guarantee, the specialists are obliged to compensate the investors. The amount of compensation is equal to the difference between the actual execution price and the guaranteed execution price.

In case of a complaint, investors can contact the Trading Surveillance Office of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Please simply write an e-mail to huest@deutsche-boerse.com.

Exceptions in extreme market situations

In the event of line or system failures and special situations such as a Fast Market - when prices jump particularly sharply - the guarantee is suspended. There are also restrictions regarding the guaranteed order size: Firstly, if the available volume on the reference market does not reach the volume of the order, and secondly, if several orders are cumulated for the price fixing whose total volume exceeds 7,500 euros. Stop orders are also excluded from the quality guarantee.

Please also note that the guarantee in the trading system is based on the volume weighted average price, which may deviate from the queryable offer prices on the reference markets in individual cases.

July 2021, © Deutsche Börse AG