Hogan Lovells Cadwalader advises DZ BANK on base prospectus for crypto securities

Under the base prospectus approved by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on May 7, 2026, DZ BANK may publicly offer certificates in the form of crypto-securities pursuant to the eWpG. The crypto-securities are to be entered in a crypto-securities register by way of collective entry. The issuance of crypto-securities under the eWpG requires a register-keeping entity and a DLT infrastructure.

With the eWpG, which entered into force on June 10, 2021, German securities law was modernized and the possibility was created to issue electronic securities as crypto-securities using blockchain technology. Although issuers initially held back from issuing crypto-securities after the statutory provisions came into force, market participants have increasingly turned to this form of issuance in recent times. At first, these were primarily issuances by large companies and banks placed with a limited number of professional clients, or offerings of crypto-securities of less than EUR 8 or EUR 12 million, for which there was no prospectus requirement.

The base prospectus of DZ BANK enables the public offering of crypto-securities, i.e., also an offering to retail investors. DZ BANK is both issuer and custodian, meaning it will be entered in the crypto-securities register as the holder. Investors can purchase and hold the crypto-securities issued under the base prospectus via their custodian bank, provided the latter maintains an account with DZ BANK. This is a step towards the establishment of crypto-securities in retail markets and thus also towards the establishment of digital securities structures in the German capital market.

The press release of DZ BANK on the first investment certificate issued under the base prospectus as a crypto-security can be found here.

The Hogan Lovells Cadwalader team included partner Dr. Jochen Seitz, partner Peter Maier, counsel Dr. Stefan Wollmert-Schrewe and associate Melissa Mohr, who provided advice on all capital market matters relating to the prospectus.