For the past three-and-a-half years new prospectus laws have been in force in Germany, as in the whole of the European Union. Prior to this time, since 2003, it was possible to issue bonds with a minimum denomination per unit of EUR 50,000 without a prospectus, but in 2012 this threshold was increased to EUR 100,000. The legislature provided for the exemption from the requirement to publish a prospectus on the basis that retail investors do not generally subscribe for or trade bonds in such large denominations; it is usually only institutional investors who do so. The latter do not rely to the same extent on the particularly high level of transparency offered by a prospectus and the liability imposed on issuers for misstatements in prospectuses.
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