Volkswagen fined €1.2m for disclosure breach

Germany's financial regulator has fined Volkswagen €1.2 million, accusing the carmaker of breaching its disclosure obligations in a statement published on Friday, reported dpa.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) said Volkswagen AG should have immediately published its 2023 financial year forecast as an "ad hoc" announcement, given that it had significantly exceeded market expectations.

Instead, the company had only published the insider information in a press release, BaFin said.

Volkswagen can appeal the fine. No statement from the company was available on Friday morning.

Listed companies in Germany are subject to so-called ad hoc disclosure requirements. This means that non-public insider information that could significantly affect the share price must be published immediately - on an "ad hoc" basis.

BaFin said this also applies to a significant deviation of financial figures from market expectations.

The ad hoc disclosure requirement is part of the Market Abuse Regulation. If a company violates it, BaFin can impose a fine of up to €2.5 million or up to 2% of turnover.

BaFin said the fine was imposed on October 1.

On March 3, 2023, Volkswagen surprised investors during active trading with an optimistic outlook for the year, sending the DAX-listed VW share price surging more than 10% on the day.