GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS (GTC)

BfV Bank für Vermögen AG — Basic rules for the relationship between the customer and the bank.

§ 1 Scope of application

These General Terms and Conditions apply to the entire business relationship between the customer and BfV Bank für Vermögen AG (hereinafter: “the Bank”). In addition, special terms may apply to individual business relationships (for example securities business) which contain deviations from or supplements to these General Terms and Conditions; these are agreed with the customer when an order is placed.

§ 2 Amendments

Amendments to these terms and to any special terms will be offered to the customer in text form at least two months before the proposed effective date. If the customer and the Bank have agreed on an electronic communication channel (e.g. online banking), the amendments may also be offered via that channel. The customer’s consent is deemed granted if the customer does not notify the Bank of rejection before the proposed effective date. The Bank will specifically draw attention to this approval effect in its offer.

§ 3 Banking secrecy and bank references

1. Banking secrecy. The Bank is obliged to maintain confidentiality about all customer-related facts and assessments of which it becomes aware (banking secrecy). The Bank may disclose information about the customer only if legal provisions require it, if the customer has consented, or if the Bank is authorised to provide a bank reference.
2. Bank reference. A bank reference contains general statements and remarks about the customer’s economic situation, creditworthiness and ability to pay. Amount-related information about account balances, savings deposits, custody accounts or other assets entrusted to the Bank is not provided.
3. Requirements. The Bank is authorised to provide bank references about legal entities and merchants registered in the commercial register, insofar as the request relates to their business activities. The Bank does not provide information if it has been instructed otherwise by the customer. References about other persons—especially private customers and associations—are provided only if they have generally or explicitly consented. A reference is provided only if the requester credibly demonstrates a legitimate interest and there is no reason to assume that overriding interests of the customer oppose disclosure.
4. Recipients. The Bank provides bank references only to its own customers and to other credit institutions for their purposes or those of their customers.

§ 4 Liability of the Bank

1. Principles. The Bank is liable for any fault of its employees and of persons it engages to fulfil its obligations. Where special terms or other agreements provide otherwise, those provisions take precedence. If the customer contributed to the occurrence of damage through culpable conduct (e.g. breach of duties under § 8), the extent of liability is determined in accordance with the principles of contributory negligence.
2. Forwarded orders. If an order is typically executed by involving a third party, the Bank fulfils the order by forwarding it to the third party in its own name. In this case, the Bank’s liability is limited to the careful selection and instruction of the third party.
3. Operational disruptions. The Bank is not liable for damage caused by force majeure, riots, war or natural events, or other incidents for which it is not responsible (e.g. strikes, lockouts, traffic disruptions, governmental measures in Germany or abroad).

§ 5 Set-off

The customer may set off claims against the Bank only if the customer’s claims are undisputed or have been legally established by a final court decision.

§ 6 Disposal rights after the customer’s death

After the customer’s death, anyone claiming to be the customer’s legal successor must provide suitable proof of inheritance. If the Bank is presented with an executed or certified copy of the testamentary disposition (will, inheritance contract) together with the opening record, the Bank may treat the person named therein as heir or executor as authorised, allow them to dispose, and in particular perform with discharging effect. This does not apply if the Bank is aware that the named person is not authorised (e.g. after contestation or invalidity) or if the Bank was unaware due to gross negligence.

§ 7 Governing law and jurisdiction

1. German law. German law applies to the business relationship between the customer and the Bank.
2. Jurisdiction for domestic customers. The Bank’s general place of jurisdiction is determined by its registered office. If the customer is a merchant and the disputed relationship is attributable to the operation of their commercial business, the Bank may sue the customer either at its general place of jurisdiction or at another competent court; the same applies to legal entities under public law and special public-law funds. The Bank itself may be sued by such customers only at its general place of jurisdiction.
3. Jurisdiction for foreign customers. This jurisdiction agreement also applies to customers abroad who conduct comparable commercial activities and to foreign institutions comparable to domestic entities under public law or special public-law funds.
4. Language. The language of the business relationship is German unless otherwise agreed.

§ 8 Customer duties of cooperation

1. Notification of changes. The customer must promptly inform the Bank of changes to name/address and of the revocation or change of an authority granted vis-à-vis the Bank (e.g. power of attorney). This applies even if the authority is registered and its revocation/change is recorded there. Further statutory notification duties may apply (e.g. under anti-money laundering law).
2. Clarity of orders. Orders must be clearly formulated. Ambiguous orders may require clarification and cause delays. The customer must ensure accuracy and completeness. Changes, confirmations or repetitions of orders must be identified as such.
3. Form requirement. Declarations by the customer generally require text form unless otherwise agreed. Oral agreements remain unaffected.
4. Urgency notice. If urgent execution is required, the customer must inform the Bank separately; in case of standard forms, the urgency must be indicated outside the form.
5. Review and objections. The customer must promptly review statements, reports, settlements, execution notices and expected payment notices (advices) for accuracy/completeness and raise objections without undue delay.
6. Missing notices. If expected securities settlements or other notices do not arrive, the customer must inform the Bank immediately.

§ 9 Fees and expenses

1. Fees in private customer business. Fees for typical private customer services are set out in the “Price and Service List” (Preis- und Leistungsverzeichnis) in its current version, accessible at bfv-ag.it.com. Unless otherwise agreed, the fees in effect at the time of use apply. For services not listed that, by circumstances, are to be expected only against remuneration, statutory provisions apply unless otherwise agreed.
2. Fees outside private customer business. Outside private customer business, the Bank determines fees at its reasonable discretion (§ 315 BGB) unless otherwise agreed and subject to mandatory law.
3. Non-chargeable services. The Bank will not charge for services it must provide by law or ancillary duty or provides in its own interest, unless legally permissible and charged in accordance with law.
4. Changes for ongoing services. For services typically used on an ongoing basis, fee changes are offered at least two months before the proposed effective date. Consent is deemed granted if the customer does not object before the effective date; the Bank will point this out. The customer may terminate the affected contract free of charge before the effective date; the Bank will inform the customer of this right.
5. Expenses. The Bank may charge expenses incurred when acting on behalf of or in the presumed interest of the customer (e.g. telephone and postage).

§ 10 Collection of due claims

The Bank is entitled to collect due claims for fees, ancillary costs and expenses by SEPA direct debit from the customer’s reference account at the correspondent bank or to arrange collection via the account-holding bank.

§ 11 Payment when purchasing financial instruments

1. No cheques/cash. The Bank does not accept cheques or cash payments.
2. Direct debit (authorisation). In this commonly used settlement variant, the customer must pay in advance and provide an original SEPA direct debit mandate. The customer must ensure sufficient funds on the reference account.

§ 12 Provision or strengthening of collateral

1. Right to collateral. The Bank may require customary bank collateral for all claims arising from the banking business relationship, including conditional claims. If the customer has assumed liability for another customer’s obligations (e.g. as guarantor), the collateral claim for that liability arises only upon its maturity.
2. Change in risk. Even if the Bank initially refrained from demanding collateral, it may demand collateral later if circumstances arise or become known that justify an increased risk assessment (e.g. deterioration of economic circumstances or impairment of collateral value). No collateral claim exists if it was expressly agreed that the customer must provide none or only specifically named collateral.
3. Deadline. The Bank grants a reasonable deadline for providing or strengthening collateral. If the Bank intends to exercise its right to terminate without notice under § 17(2) due to non-compliance, it will warn the customer beforehand.

§ 13 Pledge in favour of the Bank

The customer and the Bank agree that the Bank acquires a pledge over the securities booked (now or in the future) in the customer’s securities account held at the correspondent bank. The customer assigns to the Bank all claims for delivery of the securities against the custodian. The pledge secures all existing, future and conditional claims of the Bank against the customer arising from the business relationship. The customer authorises the Bank to notify the pledge to the correspondent bank in the customer’s name.

§ 14 Limitation and release of collateral

1. Coverage limit. The Bank may demand collateral until the realisable value of all collateral equals the total amount of all claims arising from the banking business relationship (coverage limit).
2. Release. If the realisable value of all collateral exceeds the coverage limit not only temporarily, the Bank must, upon request, release collateral of its choice in the amount exceeding the limit, taking into account the legitimate interests of the customer and any third-party security provider. In this context, the Bank must also execute customer orders relating to pledged assets (e.g. sale of securities).

§ 15 Realisation of collateral

1. Choice. When realising collateral, the Bank may choose among several collateral items, taking into account the legitimate interests of the customer and any third-party security provider.
2. Proceeds credit note (VAT). If the realisation transaction is subject to VAT, the Bank issues a credit note for the proceeds that qualifies as an invoice for the supply of the item serving as collateral and meets VAT law requirements.

§ 16 Termination rights of the customer

1. At any time. The customer may terminate the entire business relationship or individual business relationships without notice if neither a fixed term nor a deviating termination rule applies.
2. For good cause. If a fixed term or deviating rule exists, termination without notice is permitted only for good cause such that continuation is unreasonable even considering the Bank’s legitimate interests.
3. Statutory rights. Statutory termination rights remain unaffected.

§ 17 Termination rights of the Bank

1. With notice. The Bank may terminate the entire business relationship or individual business relationships at any time with reasonable notice if no fixed term or deviating rule applies, taking into account the customer’s legitimate interests.
2. Without notice for good cause. Termination without notice is permissible if a good cause exists making continuation unreasonable for the Bank. Good cause exists in particular if: (i) the customer provided incorrect information about assets of material importance; (ii) a significant deterioration in the customer’s economic situation or the value of collateral occurs or threatens and jeopardises performance; or (iii) the customer fails to provide or strengthen collateral within the reasonable deadline set by the Bank under § 12(2) or a special agreement.
3. Winding-up. In case of termination without notice, the Bank grants a reasonable period for winding-up unless immediate settlement is required.

§ 18 Dispute resolution

a) For disputes related to the German Capital Investment Code (KAGB) and banking business under § 1(1) sentence 2 or financial services under § 1(1a) sentence 2 of the German Banking Act (KWG) between consumers and supervised entities such as BfV Bank für Vermögen AG, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) may act as a competent conciliation body if the company is not affiliated with a recognised private consumer arbitration body.

BfV Bank für Vermögen AG is not affiliated with a recognised private consumer arbitration body for the above disputes.

BaFin address:
Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht
Schlichtungsstelle – Referat ZR 3 –
Graurheindorfer Straße 108
D-53117 Bonn
Phone: 0228 / 4108-0
Fax: 0228 / 4108-62299
E-mail:

b) For disputes related to the mediation of insurance contracts between consumers and insurance intermediaries, the Insurance Ombudsman (Versicherungsombudsmann) may be contacted as a recognised private consumer arbitration body. Further details are governed by the applicable procedural rules (VermVO).

Insurance Ombudsman address:
Versicherungsombudsmann e. V.
PO Box 08 06 32
10006 Berlin
Phone: 0800 / 36 96 000 (Germany), +49 30 / 20 60 58 99 (abroad)
Fax: 0800 / 36 99 000 (Germany), +49 30 / 20 60 58 98 (abroad)
E-mail:

Otherwise, BfV Bank für Vermögen AG is not obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before recognised private consumer arbitration bodies.

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