The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) is responsible for protecting all consumers in the financial services sector. You can only submit complaints to BaFin about possible malpractice in a company in the financial services sector that is under the supervision of BaFin. BaFin cannot refund money that you have lost through securities transactions, for example.
It also has no influence on statutory or contractual deadlines, such as payment, reporting or limitation periods, if you submit a complaint. To ensure that you do not suffer any disadvantages, you must ensure that you comply with such deadlines yourself, irrespective of BaFin's review. In cases of doubt, it is advisable to seek legal advice.

In the event of a dispute, BaFin offers the parties involved the opportunity to settle the dispute out of court in addition to lodging a complaint, if your complaint is suitable for this.
Regardless of which body is responsible for settling a specific disagreement, all procedures have certain principles in common:

• Conciliation proceedings are largely conducted in writing.
• Before an arbitration procedure, you should always have complained in writing to the company or institution concerned.
• The arbitration procedure itself is generally free of charge for you as a consumer.
• If you do not agree with the arbitrator's decision, you can still decide to take legal action, i.e. sue the institution in question.

BaFin is not responsible for complaints about

• statutory health insurance, accident insurance, pension insurance or municipal compensation,
• the stock exchange supervisory authority,
• some smaller insurance companies that only operate regionally and are subject to state supervision,
• Old funds, provided they are not subject to the Capital Investment Code, the Securities Sales Prospectus Act or the Asset Investment Act,
• brokers of investment funds and other financial service providers that do not conduct business requiring a license under the German Banking Act.
• Restrictions also apply to foreign companies.