Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband - HSH Nordbank

S Finanzgruppe 

Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband 

The Guarantee Fund 

of the Savings Banks Finance Group 

Rules

The Guarantee Fund 

of the Savings Banks Finance Group 

Rule

The Guarantee Fund of the Savings Banks Finance Group 

Contents 

Contents 

Foreword 5 

Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of the 

Regional Associations 7 

Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken and 

Girozentralen 25 

Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 45 

Rules for the Supraregional Compensation Scheme of the 

Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 61 

Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds as well as the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen and the Guarantee Fund of 

the Landesbausparkassen 71 

3


Foreword 

Foreword 

All Savings Banks, Landesbanken, Girozentralen and 

Landesbausparkassen are members of the Savings Banks Finance Group’s 

Guarantee Fund. The guarantee fund comprises the following guarantee 

schemes, which are interlinked to form the Joint Liability Scheme: 

- The Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of the Regional Savings Banks and 

Giro Associations; 

- The Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen; 

- The Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 

The guarantee schemes safeguard member institutions in accordance with 

Section 12 of the German Deposit Guarantee and Investor Compensation 

Act. The system is based on the Savings Banks Guarantee Funds of the 

regional Savings Banks and Giro Associations, to which all free Savings 

Banks and Savings Banks under public law belong. Supraregional 

compensation exists between the regional Savings Banks Guarantee Funds. 

Thus, all regional Savings Banks Guarantee Funds are interlinked to form 

the the Joint Liability Scheme, with the result that despite the autonomy of 

the regional institutions, the total amount of all funds is collectively 

available as and when required. There are independent guarantee funds 

for the Landesbanken and Girozentralen, as well as for the 

Ladesbausparkassen. All guarantee schemes of the Savings Banks Finance 

Group combine to form the Joint Liability Scheme, through which the 

amount of all funds is available when needed. 

5


Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of the Regional Associations 

Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 

of the Regional Associations 

As adopted at the DSGV’s General Meeting on 11 December 1975, amended 

by a resolution of the DSGV’s General Meeting on 18 December 2003 

effective 1 January 2006, and finally amended by a resolution of the 

DSGV’s General Meeting on 1 December 2004. 

7



Contents 

I. Function of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, Members, Recourse 

to the Fund 

Art. 1 Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, Members 

Art. 2 Function and Purpose of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund 

(Safeguarding Institutions) 

Art. 3 Recourse to the Fund 

II. Preventive Measures 

Art. 4 Early Identification of Risks, Risk Monitoring, Reporting to the 

Transparency Committee 

Art. 5 Annual Audit 

Art. 6 General Duties of Care 

Art. 7 Information on Special Events 

Art. 8 Duty to Provide Information in the Event of a Particular Risk 

Exposure 

Art. 9 Audits in the Event of Particular Risk Exposures 

Art. 10 Rights of Intervention in Member Savings Banks at Risk 

III. Handling of Cases of Recourse to the Fund 

Art. 11 Duty to Provide Information in the Event of Recourse to the Fund 

Art. 12 Support Measures 

Art. 13 Restructuring and Reorganisation Concept, Requirements 

Art. 14 Reorganisation Agreement 

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IV. Provision of Resources for the Guarantee Fund 

Art. 15 Contributions 

Art. 16 Total Volume, Replenishment, Obligation to Make Additional 

Contributions 

V. Organisational Structure 

Art. 17 Guarantee Fund Committee 

Art. 18 Monitoring Committee 

VI. Other Provisions 

Art. 19 Confidentiality 

Art. 20 Exclusion of Legal Claims by Member Savings Banks 

Art. 21 Co-operation within the Supraregional Compensation Scheme and 

the Joint Liability Scheme 

Art. 22 Administration of the Fund’s Resources 

Art. 23 Annual Accounts, Annual Report 

Art. 24 Liquidation of the Guarantee Fund 

Art. 25 Amendments to the Rules 

9



I. Function of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, 

Members, Recourse to the Fund 

Art. 1 Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, Members 

(1) Pursuant to Art. … of the Rules of the … Association (Association), 

the Association shall maintain a Guarantee Fund as part of the 

Association’s assets (Savings Bank Guarantee Fund) in order to 

safeguard the member savings banks of said Association 

(safeguarding institutions in accordance with Section 12 of the 

German Deposit Guarantee and Investor Compensation Act). 

(2) The financial resources for the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund shall 

be provided by the member savings banks via a levy imposed by 

the Association. 

Art. 2 Function and Purpose of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund 

(Safeguarding Institutions) 

The function of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund shall be to protect the 

member savings banks themselves, in particular to safeguard their 

liquidity and solvency (safeguarding institutions). The Guarantee Fund 

shall support said institutions when they encounter financial difficulties or 

when they are at risk of encountering such difficulties. The Guarantee Fund 

shall invariably protect the member savings banks’ customer deposits 

(balance sheet item “Liabilities to depositors”, i.e. to private individuals, 

business enterprises, public authorities) as well as bonds of the member 

savings banks owned by customers. Customer deposits include in 

particular savings deposits, savings bank certificates, time deposits and 

sight deposits. The Guarantee Fund is also designed to protect liabilities to 

capital investment companies and their custodian banks (balance sheet 

item “Liabilities to credit institutions”), where the assets involved are part 

of the fund’s assets, as well as resources made available to member savings 

banks for publicly funded purposes by credit institutions that are not 

members of the Savings Banks Finance Group (e.g. the Kreditanstalt für 

Wiederaufbau - Reconstruction and Loan Corporation). 

10




(1) Recourse to the fund shall be granted if a member savings bank 

encounters financial difficulties, or is at risk of encountering such 

difficulties, especially if the member savings bank concerned is not 

able by its own efforts to avoid suspending payments or reporting 

losses that jeopardise its own survival. 

(2) The conditions specified in (1) above shall usually be deemed to 

have been fulfilled in the following cases: 

- The solvability ratio has continuously fallen below 8 per cent 

(Section 2(1) Principles on Own Funds and Liquidity – Principle 

I). 

- The liquidity has continuously fallen below the liquidity ratio as 

specified in Section 2(2) Sentence 3 of the Principles on Own 

Funds and Liquidity – Principle II. 

- The member savings bank has generated a net loss for the 

financial year which must be qualified as sustainable in view of 

the general business performance and the specific risk 

exposure and in view of the underlying financial years. 

- Facts have been reported in accordance with Section 29(3) of the 

German Banking Act (Gesetz über das Kreditwesen – KWG) that 

may jeopardise the survival of the member savings bank. 

(3) After previously having involved the audit office, the Association’s 

Board shall decide with a two-thirds majority of its members if the 

conditions for recourse to the Fund have been fulfilled. If it can be 

expected that recourse to the Fund will be needed, the Association 

shall inform the DSGV about this fact in writing as well as all 

support measures envisaged and shall leave it up to the DSGV to 

send representatives who shall be heard. 

(4) If – in a case of recourse to the Fund – support measures (Art. 12 

below) are adopted, a reorganisation agreement shall be concluded 

(Art. 14 below). Where a reorganisation agreement has been 

concluded with a member savings bank and where the savings 

bank concerned files another application for support measures 

during the term of the agreement, the case shall be treated as a 

11



12 

second recourse to the Fund under the present Rules. The 

agreement concluded with the member savings bank concerned 

may provide otherwise where this is required in view of the nature, 

scope and complexity of a given case. If an application for recourse 

to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme is filed in the course of 

such a case, the Joint Committee may review the need for a 

different agreement and may make the granting of support dependent 

on their review. 




(1) The purpose of the Savings Banks Finance Group’s guarantee 

schemes is to identify risks and exposures of member savings 

banks as early as possible in order to be able to adopt the necessary 

preventive measures. The member savings banks shall be obliged 

to support any measures that help identify risks at an early point in 

time. 

(2) The Savings Bank Guarantee Fund shall operate a risk monitoring 

system that is designed to identify risks at an early point in time 

and to define different levels of information and intervention 

rights. Further details are laid down in the Risk Monitoring 

Principles of the Savings Banks Finance Group’s Guarantee 

Schemes, which are part of the present Rules. 1 

(3) The risk monitoring results shall be reported to the Transparency 

Committee (Art. 11(3) of the Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of 

the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen as well as the Guarantee Fund of 

the Landesbausparkassen). 

1 The Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Banks Finance Group’s Guarantee 

Schemes are adopted separately by the DSGV’s General Meeting.




In order to attain the objectives mentioned in Art. 4(1) and to assess the risk 

of recourse to the Fund, the Association shall be entitled to have its audit 

office audit the financial situation of each member savings bank at the 

latter’s expense. This audit shall be performed at least once a year. The 

results of this audit and the analytical assessment of the results by the 

audit office shall be communicated to the Association’s Chairman and 

explained during a meeting to the members of the Executive Board and the 

Supervisory Board of the member savings bank concerned. During this 

meeting, the financial situation of the member savings bank shall be 

analysed and described to the parties involved in a comprehensible 

manner. This meeting may be combined with the Supervisory Board’s final 

conference on the result of the audit of the annual accounts. 


(1) Compliance by member savings banks with general duties of care 

as specified in (2) below shall be reviewed within the framework of 

the audit of annual accounts. 2 

(2) General duties of care shall include in particular: 

- compliance with statutory duties of care, especially those 

defined in legislation on organisational structures, the present 

Rules and legislation on banking supervision; 

- reasonable planning, control and supervision; 

- creating and maintaining the conditions in terms of human and 

physical resources as well as the organisational structure 

required to conduct the business; 

- maintaining a reasonable ratio of risks taken by a member 

savings bank (including borrower default risks for specific size 

and/or industry structures) to the risk coverage potential 

available to the member savings bank concerned; 

2 Institutions that are not audited by the Association’s audit office shall instruct their 

statutory auditors to include compliance with these duties of care in the audit and to 

mention the results in their audit reports. 

13



14 

- conducting a reasonable analysis of earnings opportunities and 

risk exposures prior to launching new business lines. 


(1) Member savings banks shall be obliged to inform the Association 

without delay of the following developments: 

- circumstances as specified in Art. 3(2) above; 

- acquisitions and disposals of major participating interests as 

specified in Section 10(6) No. 1 of the German Banking Act; 

- risks resulting from a violation of duties of care as specified in 

Art. 6 above; 

- risks as a result of which the savings bank’s own funds can be 

expected to fall below the requirements specified in Section 

10(1) of the German Banking Act; 

- reports pursuant to Section 24(1) Nos. 5 and 10 of the German 

Banking Act; 

- emergence of facts that can lead to substantial losses; 

- extraordinary changes in key ratios used for risk monitoring 

purposes. 

(2) The following bodies shall be authorised to inform the Association 

about any development that might jeopardise the survival or 

seriously impair the development of member savings banks: 

- the owners of the member savings banks; 

- the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für 

Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht); 

- the Deutsche Bundesbank; 

- auditors of the annual accounts of member savings banks; 

- auditors who perform audits under the provisions of the 

German Banking Act or the present Rules. 

- The Association shall be authorised to seek from said bodies 

any information that is relevant to the Association in its 

function as the owner of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund.




Exposure 

Member savings banks shall be obliged to furnish, upon the Association’s 

request, any information or documents that might help to explain and 

clarify matters in the event of a particular risk exposure. 


If there is reasonable evidence of a particular risk exposure, member 

savings banks shall be obliged to allow audits ordered by the Association 

for the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund to be performed at the expense of the 

savings banks concerned. They shall grant access to any documents 

required for the performance of a thorough audit. 

Art. 10 Rights of Intervention in Member Savings Banks at Risk 

The Association’s Chairman shall be entitled and obliged to inform the 

Association’s Board or the Guarantee Fund Committee (Art. 17) of audits 

performed under Articles 5 and 9 if the savings banks concerned were 

exposed to particular risks. The Association’s Board of the Guarantee Fund 

Committee shall be entitled to convene a meeting with the members of the 

Supervisory Board and the Executive Board of the member savings bank 

concerned in order to discuss the risk exposure. They may request the 

member savings bank concerned to develop a restructuring concept or to 

take appropriate measures. 

In order to avoid support measures, they may require the savings bank 

concerned to implement measures that will affect its human or physical 

resources. The DSGV shall be informed in writing about the risk exposure 

and any requirements imposed, without disclosing the name of the 

member savings bank concerned. 

15





In the event of recourse to the Fund (Art. 3), member savings banks shall 

grant the Association full access to information on their financial situation. 

They shall make available any information required for the Association to 

assess an institution’s financial status. 


(1) The Association’s Board shall decide with a two-thirds majority of 

its members on the nature and scope of the support measures to be 

implemented and the associated requirements (Art. 13). Depending 

on the financial situation of the member savings bank concerned, 

any of the following support measures may be chosen: 

- Allocating liable funds in the form of lost contributions (equity 

contributions) or otherwise; 

- Furnishing guarantees or suretyships; 

- Making interest-bearing commitments to pay debts; 

- Meeting claims by third parties against the member savings 

bank concerned in return for an assignment of the claims to the 

Savings Bank Guarantee Fund. 

(2) Granting lost contributions in cases where repayment based on a 

debtor warrant bond (“Besserungsschein”) is not expected should 

be the exception to the rule. The Association’s Board shall 

exclusively grant lost contributions up to a maximum of 10 per cent 

of the total volume of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund (Art. 16); 

for each member savings bank to be supported, lost contributions 

shall not exceed 2 per cent of the balance sheet total of the savings 

bank concerned. This provision shall apply to a support volume of 

no more than 20 per cent of the total volume of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Fund. If support measures are to be implemented that 

go beyond the above-mentioned independent decision-making 

authority of the Association’s Board, while they do not exceed the 

16



17 

total volume of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, the Association’s 

Board shall seek the opinion of the DSGV’s Presidium and that of 

the Joint Committee. The Presidium’s deliberations on the request 

for recourse to the Fund shall be attended by a representative of the 

Association in an advisory capacity only. If the Association’s 

representative himself is a member of the Presidium, his deputy in 

the Presidium shall exercise his function in the Presidium. 

(3) The total volume of all balance sheet aids provided by the Savings 

Bank Guarantee Fund (guarantees and/or suretyships) must not 

exceed 25 per cent of the total volume of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Fund. Where, in derogation of this provision, balance 

sheet aid is to be granted up to the level of the Fund’s total assets, 

the Association’s Board shall seek the opinion of the DSGV’s 

Presidium, and in other respects that of the Joint Committee. 

Sentences 5 and 6 of (2) above shall apply mutatis mutandis. 


(1) All support measures shall be based on the development of a 

restructuring and reorganisation concept to be drawn up, on behalf 

of the Association, by the member savings bank concerned or a 

qualified third party. The concept shall include in particular: 

- an analysis of the problem and its causes; 

- a list of short-term support measures; 

- a timetable for the introduction, implementation and 

conclusion of the necessary support measures; 

- an estimate and appraisal of the member savings bank’s future 

development prospects. 

(2) Support measures (Art. 12) may be made contingent on the 

fulfilment of requirements imposed on the member institution 

concerned. Such requirements may include in particular: 

- a reasonable reorganisation contribution to be made by the 

member savings bank’s owner(s) 3 ; 

3 Also applies to other forms of organisation.



18 

- drawing on open reserves and releasing prudential reserves in 

accordance with Section 340f of the German Commercial Code 

and Section 26a of the German Banking Act (old) to cover losses, 

where this does not conflict with statutory requirements; 

- accounting measures (e.g. depreciation and value 

adjustments only to the extent that is absolutely necessary, 

full utilisation of choices in the valuation of assets, reversals 

of depreciation and expenses within the limits imposed by 

statutory provisions); 

- selling or transferring participating interests and other 

assets; 

- implementing general measures, in particular measures 

affecting the organisation structure; 

- implementing measures that affect a savings bank’s human 

resources, in particular dismissing responsible board 

members; 

- merging member savings banks, subject to statutory 

provisions governing savings banks; 

- transferring ownership of the member savings bank to the 

Association, or any organisational unit established by the 

Association for this purpose, subject to statutory provisions 

governing savings banks and in line with the Savings Bank 

Finance Group’s goals as an association. 

- engaging the services of external consultants with the 

necessary experience and expertise; 

- issuing a debtor warrant bond (“Besserungsschein”). 

(3) The member savings bank’s specific problems and the impact 

resulting from a requirement shall be considered when imposing 

requirements. Member savings banks shall be obliged to fulfil the 

requirements without delay. 


The parties involved in the reorganisation shall conclude a reorganisation 

agreement. This agreement shall stipulate the support measures, the 

financial resources to be spent, the requirements to be met and the



duration of the reorganisation phase, as well as the conditions under which 

the member savings bank is obliged to repay reorganisation funds. 



The contributions to be made to the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund shall 

vary depending on the risk exposure of member savings banks. The 

determination of the parts of the Association’s levies that will be used as 

contributions for the Guarantee Fund shall be subject to the “Principles of 

Risk-based Computation of Contributions to the Guarantee Schemes of the 

Savings Bank Finance Group”, which shall be part of the present Rules. Any 

interest accrued and income earned shall be part of the Fund’s assets. 


Contributions 

(1) The Savings Bank Guarantee Fund’s total volume shall be 

composed of liquid funds and obligations to make additional 

contributions and shall be determined in accordance with the 

standard principles specified in Art. 15. The liquid funds to be contributed 

shall amount to at least one-third of the Fund’s total 

volume (pay-in target). The remaining amount (not exceeding twothirds 

of the total volume) shall be made up of obligations to make 

additional contributions. The Association’s Board may raise the 

limit for liquid funds to a level above the pay-in target. Where this 

option is exercised, the additional cash payments made shall be 

credited against the remaining obligations to make additional 

contributions. 

(2) Member savings banks shall be obliged to make annual cash 

payments of at least 15 per cent of the pay-in target as long as less 

than 65 per cent of the target has been paid into the Fund. Member 

19



20 

institutions shall make annual cash payments of at least 7.5 per 

cent of the pay-in target as long as the sum total of cash payments 

made is equal to or greater than 65 per cent of the pay-in target, but 

has not yet reached the pay-in target. In addition to this regular 

replenishment obligation, the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund may 

also be replenished by special assessments, either fully or partially, 

by virtue of a resolution adopted by the Association’s Board. 

(3) A special replenishment obligation shall apply if, in the event of 

recourse to the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, the cash 

contributions made to the Fund fall short of the pay-in target. If the 

Savings Bank Guarantee Fund’s cash resources are not sufficient to 

handle the case, the Fund’s cash resources shall first of all be 

replenished to the level required, however, without exceeding the 

pay-in target. 

(4) If, due to a member savings bank’s recourse to the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Fund, the Fund’s cash resources have been depleted up 

to the level of the pay-in target, and if more cash is required, the 

obligation to make additional contributions shall take effect; said 

contributions shall be made at the first request. The additional 

contributions to be made shall amount to the Fund’s total volume 

less the cash contributions already made. Should these additional 

contributions still be insufficient to cover the financial 

requirements in the case concerned, the Guarantee Fund may have 

recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme. 

(5) Recourse to the member savings banks’ obligation to make 

additional contributions (Art. 16(1)) or their replenishment 

obligation (Art. 16(3)) must not expose individual member savings 

banks to a substantial risk. The member savings bank concerned 

shall notify the Association of an exposure to such a substantial 

risk without undue delay, however, no later than prior to the 

adoption of a resolution as specified in Art. 12(1). Should the 

Association’s Board find that a member savings bank is exposed to 

such a substantial risk, the Board may release the savings bank 

concerned from its obligation, either fully or partially, or the Board 

may allow deferred performance of the savings bank’s obligation.



21 

The compensation for the shortfall shall be made within the 

framework of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund. 

(6) Where recourse to the member savings banks’ obligation to make 


obligation (Art. 16(3)) poses a substantial risk for several member 

savings banks of the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund, the Association 

may have recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme 

and appeal to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme in order to 

apply for advance provision of funds for support measures. 

V. Organisational Structure 

Art. 17 Guarantee Fund Committee 

The Association’s Board may establish a Guarantee Fund Committee and 

assign tasks to said Committee. This Committee shall be composed at least 

of the Chairman of the Association’s General Meetings, the Chairman of the 

Association, and the Regional Spokesman. The head of the Association’s 

audit office shall attend the Committee’s meetings in an advisory capacity. 


A Monitoring Committee shall be established. Further details are laid down 

in the Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Bank Finance Group’s 

Guarantee Schemes (Art. 4(2)).





All parties who are involved in support measures or who become active for 

the purposes of the guarantee schemes of the Savings Banks Finance Group 

shall be bound to treat confidentially all operations and information that 

they take cognizance of in the context of their activities. This shall also 

apply to their employees as well as the members of the institutions, bodies 

and committees involved, and shall continue to apply after the termination 

of their activities. 

Art. 20 Exclusion of Legal Claims by Member Savings Banks 

Member savings banks shall have no legal claim to support measures. 

Art. 21 Co-operation within the Supraregional Compensation Scheme and 

the Joint Liability Scheme 

The Association and its member savings banks shall participate, actively 

and passively, in the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund’s Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme and in the Joint Liability Scheme operated jointly 

with the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken/ Girozentralen and the 

Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen in accordance with the Rules 

concerned. 


The Association shall administer the resources of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Fund and shall invest them separately from the Association’s 

other assets as a legally dependent special fund. The contributions paid in 

shall be invested at interest in such a way that the necessary liquidity is 

guaranteed at any time, while maintaining a reasonable mix and 

diversification. 

22




The Association shall prepare Annual Accounts and an Annual Report for 

the Savings Bank Guarantee Fund once a year as of 31 December. These 

documents shall be submitted to the supreme supervisory authority for 

savings banks, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the Deutsche 

Bundesbank and the DSGV by 31 May of each year. 


The Association’s General Meeting shall decide on the Guarantee Fund’s 

liquidation, the procedure to be adopted for its liquidation and the use of 

the assets held by the Fund at this time. 


Amendments to the present Rules shall be adopted at a General Meeting of 

the DSGV and shall require a three-quarters majority of the votes 

represented. Art. 9(1) sentences 4 and 5 of the Statute of the DSGV e.V. shall 

apply mutatis mutandis. 4 

4 

This paragraph must not be included in the Rules for each of the regional savings 

bank guarantee funds. 

23


Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen 

Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken 

and Girozentralen 



effective 1 January 2006, amended by a resolution of the DSGV’s General 

Meeting on 1 December 2004, and finally amended by a resolution of the 


25



Contents 

I. Function of the Guarantee Fund, Members, Recourse to the Fund 

Art. 1 Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken, the Girozentralen and their 

Affiliated Institutions 

Art. 2 Function and Purpose of the Guarantee Fund (Safeguarding 

Institutions) 









Exposure 


Art. 10 Rights of Intervention in Member Institutions at Risk 









Contributions 

26



V. Withdrawal 

Art. 17 Withdrawal of Member Institutions 

Art. 18 Withdrawal Procedure 

Art. 19 Consequences of Withdrawal 




Art. 22 Exclusion of Legal Claims by Member Institutions 

Art. 23 Co-operation within the Joint Liability Scheme 

Art. 24 Special Right of the DSGV to Dispose of the Guarantee Fund 


Art. 26 Responsibilities, Adoption of Resolutions 




27



I. Function of the Guarantee Fund, Members, Recourse to 

the Fund 

Art. 1 Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken, the Girozentralen and their 

Affiliated Institutions 

(1) The Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband e.V. (DSGV) has set up a 

fund (guarantee fund) as a scheme to safeguard the following 

institutions (ordinary member institutions of the Guarantee Fund) 

in accordance with Section 12 of the German Deposit Guarantee 

and Investor Compensation Act: 

28 

Bayerische Landesbank 

Bremer Landesbank Kreditanstalt Oldenburg - Girozentrale - 

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale 

HSH Nordbank AG 

Landesbank Baden-Württemberg 

Landesbank Berlin AG 

Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen - Girozentrale - 

Landesbank Saar 

Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale 

WestLB AG. 

(2) Institutions that are in a proximate relationship to the Savings 

Bank Finance Group shall be entitled to join the Guarantee Fund, 

either individually or via a separate fund (affiliated member 

institutions of the Guarantee Fund). Institutions shall only be 

allowed to join the Guarantee Fund if their financial security is 

guaranteed. In this case, an affiliation agreement shall be 

concluded between the institution concerned and the DSGV. The 

contents of said affiliation agreement shall be in keeping with the 

provisions stipulated in the present Rules and shall be adopted by a 

resolution of the ordinary member institutions of the Guarantee 

Fund as specified in Art. 26 below. 

(3) Where institutions whose activities predominantly serve the 

interests of savings banks join the Guarantee Fund in accordance



29 

with (2) above, they shall be affiliated via a separate fund. The 

affiliation agreement shall stipulate that, where such an institution 

needs support, the resources of the separate fund shall be used first 

of all, and if said resources are not sufficient, use shall be made of 

the Supraregional Compensation, and only then shall the Joint 

Liability Scheme be employed – each in accordance with its own 

Rules. Should a member institution of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen need support, the resources of the 

separate fund shall be used only at the level of the Joint Liability 

Scheme – in accordance with the Rules concerned. 


Institutions) 

The function of the Guarantee Fund shall be to protect the member 

institutions themselves, in particular to safeguard their liquidity and 

solvency (safeguarding institutions). The Guarantee Fund shall support 

said institutions when they encounter financial difficulties or when they 

are at risk of encountering such difficulties. The Guarantee Fund shall 

invariably protect the member institutions’ customer deposits (balance 

sheet item “Liabilities to depositors”, i.e. to private individuals, business 

enterprises, public authorities) as well as bonds of the member institutions 

owned by customers. Customer deposits include in particular savings 

deposits, savings certificates, time deposits and sight deposits. The 

Guarantee Fund is also designed to protect liabilities to capital investment 

companies and their custodian banks (balance sheet item “Liabilities to 

credit institutions”), where the assets involved are part of the funds’ assets, 

as well as resources made available to member institutions for publicly 

funded purposes by credit institutions that are not members of the Savings 

Bank Finance Group (e.g. the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau - Reconstruction 

and Loan Corporation). 


(1) Recourse to the fund shall be granted if a member institution 

encounters financial difficulties, or is at risk of encountering such



30 

difficulties, especially if the member institution concerned is not 






(Section 2(1) Principles on Own Funds and Liquidity – Principle I); 



Funds and Liquidity – Principle II; 

- The member institution has generated a net loss for the 



exposure and in view of the underlying financial years, or 



may jeopardise the survival of the member institution. 

(3) The Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member institutions shall decide in 

accordance with Art. 26 whether the conditions for recourse to the 

fund have been fulfilled. 




concluded with a member institution and where the institution 

concerned files another application for support measures during 

the term of the agreement, the case shall be treated as a second 

recourse to the Fund under the present Rules. The agreement 

concluded with the member institution concerned may provide 

otherwise where this is required in view of the nature, scope and 

complexity of a given case. If an application for recourse to the 

Joint Liability Scheme is filed in the course of such a case, the Joint 

Committee and the Building Societies Conference may review the 

need for recourse to the Scheme and make the granting of support 

dependent on their review.






(1) The purpose of the Savings Bank Finance Group’s guarantee 

schemes is to identify risks and exposures of member institutions 

as early as possible in order to be able to adopt the necessary 

preventive measures. The member institutions shall be obliged to 

support any measures that help identify risks at an early point in 

time. 

(2) The Guarantee Fund shall operate a risk monitoring system that is 

designed to identify risks at an early point in time and to define 

different levels of information and intervention rights. Further 

details are elaborated in the Risk Monitoring Principles of the 

Savings Bank Finance Group’s Guarantee Schemes, which are part 

of the present Rules. 1 


Committee (Art. 11(3)) of the Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of 

the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds, the Guarantee Fund of the 




The member institution shall instruct its auditor at the institution’s own 

expense to certify at least once a year that the figures reported in the 

framework of risk monitoring (Art. 4(2) above) provided a true and fair view. 

The auditor shall have the right and the duty to inform the Guarantee Fund 

as well as the member institution’s board and supervisory body in writing 

about any above-average risk exposure or violation of general duties of care 

(see Art. 6 below). 

1 The Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Bank Finance Group’s Guarantee 

Schemes are adopted separately by the DSGV’s General Meeting. 

31




(1) Compliance by member institutions with general duties of care as 

specified in (2) below shall be reviewed within the framework of the 

audit of annual accounts. Member institutions shall be obliged to 

instruct their auditors to include compliance with the provisions of 

the Guarantee Fund and with the relevant duties of care in their 

audits and to mention the results in their audit reports. 



defined in legislation on organisational structures, in the 

present Rules and in legislation on banking supervision; 






institution (including borrower default risks for specific size 


available to the member institution concerned; 




(1) Member institutions shall be obliged to inform the Guarantee Fund 


- circumstances as specified in Art. 3(2) above; 




Art. 6 above; 

- risks as a result of which the institution's own funds can be 

expected to fall below the requirements specified in Section 

10(1) of the German Banking Act; 

32



33 


Banking Act; 



purposes. 

(2) The following bodies shall be authorised to inform the Guarantee 

Fund about any development that might jeopardise the survival or 

seriously impair the development of member institutions: 

- owners of member institutions; 




- auditors of the annual accounts of member institutions; 



The Guarantee Fund shall be authorised to seek from said bodies 

any information that is relevant to the Guarantee Fund in its 

function as a guarantee scheme. 


Exposure 

Member institutions shall be obliged to furnish any information or 

documents at the Guarantee Fund’s request that might help to explain and 




institutions shall be obliged to allow audits ordered by the Guarantee Fund 

to be performed at the expense of the institutions concerned. They shall 

grant access to any documents required for the performance of a thorough 

audit. Special audits shall be performed by an auditor who did not audit the 

annual accounts of the member institution concerned in any of the three 

previous financial years.




In the event of a particular risk exposure, the Guarantee Fund shall be 

entitled to convene a meeting with the members of the supervisory body 

and with the board of the member institution concerned. The Guarantee 

Fund may request the member institution concerned to develop a 

restructuring concept or to take appropriate measures. In order to avoid 

support measures, the Guarantee Fund may require the institution 

concerned to implement measures that will affect its human or physical 

resources. 



In the event of recourse to the Fund (Art. 3), member institutions shall grant 

the Guarantee Fund full access to information on their financial situation. 

They shall make available any information required for the Guarantee 

Fund to assess an institution’s financial status. 


In accordance with Art. 26 below, the Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member 

institutions shall decide on the nature and scope of the support measures 

to be implemented and the associated requirements (Art. 13). Depending on 

the financial situation of the member institution concerned, any of the 

following support measures may be chosen: 

- Allocating liable resources in the form of lost contributions (equity 




- Meeting claims by third parties against the member institution 

concerned in return for an assignment of the claims to the Guarantee 

Fund. 

34






of the Guarantee Fund, by the member institution concerned or a 






- an estimate and appraisal of the member institution’s future 






member institution’s owner(s) 2 ; 





- accounting measures (e.g. depreciation and value adjustments 

only to the extent that is absolutely necessary, full utilisation of 

choices in the valuation of assets, reversals of depreciation and 

expenses within the limits imposed by statutory provisions); 

- selling or transferring participating interests and other assets; 



- implementing measures that affect an institution’s human 

resources, in particular dismissing responsible board members; 

- merging institutions, subject to statutory provisions; 

- transferring shares in the institution concerned, subject to 

statutory provisions and in line with the Savings Bank Finance 

Group’s goals as an association; 



2 Also applies to other forms of organisation. 

35



36 


(3) A member institution’s specific problems and the impact resulting 

from a requirement shall be considered when imposing 

requirements. Member institutions shall be obliged to fulfil the 

requirements without undue delay. 



agreement. This agreement shall stipulate the reorganisation measures, the 

financial resources to be spent, the requirements to be met and the 

duration of the reorganisation phase, as well as the conditions under which 

the member institution is obliged to repay reorganisation funds. 



The contributions to be made to the Guarantee Fund shall vary depending 

on the risk exposure of member institutions and shall be collected from 

member institutions by the DSGV. The determination of the level of 

contributions shall be subject to the Principles of Risk-based Computation 

of Contributions to the Guarantee Schemes of the Savings Bank Finance 

Group, which shall be part of the present Rules. Any interest accrued and 

income earned shall be part of the Fund’s assets. 


Contributions 

(1) The Guarantee Fund’s total volume shall be composed of liquid 

funds and obligations to make additional contributions and shall 

be determined in accordance with the standard principles specified



37 

in Art. 15. The liquid funds to be contributed shall amount to at 

least one-third of the Fund’s total volume (pay-in target). The 

remaining amount (not exceeding two-thirds of the total volume) 

shall be made up of obligations to make additional contributions. 

In accordance with Art. 26, the Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member 

institutions may raise the limit for cash contributions to a level 

above the pay-in target. Where this option is exercised, the 

additional cash payments made shall be credited against the 

remaining obligations to make additional contributions. 

(2) Member institutions shall be obliged to make annual cash 







replenishment obligation, the Guarantee Fund may also be 

replenished by special assessments, either fully or partially, by 

virtue of a resolution adopted by the Guarantee Fund’s ordinary 

member institutions in accordance with Art. 26. 


recourse to the Guarantee Fund, the cash contributions made to the 

Fund fall short of the pay-in target. If the Guarantee Fund’s cash 

resources are not sufficient to handle the case, the Fund’s cash 

resources shall first of all replenished to the level required, while 

not exceeding the pay-in target. 

(4) If, due to a member institution’s recourse to the Guarantee Fund, 

the Fund’s cash resources have been depleted to the level of the 

pay-in target, and if more cash is required, the obligation to make 

additional contributions shall take effect; said contributions shall 

be made at the first request. The additional contributions to be 

made shall amount to the Fund’s total volume less the cash 

contributions already made. Should these additional contributions 

still be insufficient to cover the financial requirements in the case 

concerned, the Guarantee Fund may have recourse to the Joint 

Liability Scheme.



(5) Recourse to the member institutions’ obligation to make additional 

contributions (Art. 16(1)) or their replenishment obligation (Art. 

16(3)) must not expose any individual member institution to a 

substantial risk. The member institution concerned shall notify the 

Guarantee Fund of an exposure to such a substantial risk without 

undue delay, however, no later than prior to the adoption of a resolution 

as specified in Art. 12(1). Should the Guarantee Fund’s 

ordinary member institutions find pursuant to Art. 26 that a 

member institution is exposed to such a substantial risk, they may 

release the institution concerned from its obligation, either fully or 

partially, or they may allow deferred performance of the institution’s 

obligation. The compensation for the shortfall of 

contributions shall be made within the framework of the Guarantee 

Fund. The decision-making procedure shall comply with Art. 26 

below. The member institutions that have not made their 

contributions shall not be entitled to vote on the resolution 

specified in sentence 3 and Art. 12 above. 

(6) Where recourse to the member institutions’ obligation to make 



institutions of the Guarantee Fund, the Fund may have recourse to 

the Joint Liability Scheme and appeal to the Joint Liability Scheme 

in order to apply for advance provision of funds for support 

measures. 

V. Withdrawal 

Art. 17 Withdrawal of Member Institutions 

A member institution shall leave the Guarantee Fund if its membership in 

the DSGV ends, if it terminates its membership in the Guarantee Fund, or if 

it is barred from the Guarantee Fund. 

38



Art. 18 Withdrawal Procedure 

(1) Any member institution may terminate its membership in the 

Guarantee Fund by giving two years’ written notice, effective at the 

end of a given calendar year. The written notice to terminate the 

membership must be addressed to the President of the DSGV. 

(2) A member institution shall leave the Guarantee Fund two years 

after termination of its membership in the DSGV. If a member 

institution voluntarily withdraws from the DSGV as specified in 

Art. 5(1) letter (b) of the Statute of the DSGV e.V., the two-year period 

shall begin to run on the date when the notice of withdrawal is 

received. 

(3) The Board of the DSGV may shorten the periods specified in (1) and 

(2) above with the approval of the withdrawing member institution. 

(4) A member institution may be barred from the Guarantee Fund if it 

seriously infringes upon its obligations to the guarantee schemes 

of the Savings Bank Finance Group, or if it violates important 

provisions of the present Rules. A member institution shall be 

deemed to have violated said provisions in particular if: 

- it has persistently contravened the duties of care defined in Art. 

6 above, 

- it has violated important duties to provide information, 

- the responsible bodies of the member institution have failed to 

agree to or fulfil the requirements imposed by the Guarantee 

Fund, 

- it pursues an unreasonably risky business policy, or 

- it fails to pay its contributions. 

(5) The member institution concerned shall be warned in a letter by 

the President of the DSGV that it may be barred from the Guarantee 

Fund. The facts that justify the exclusion and the ground for the 

exclusion shall be specified in the President’s letter. Should the 

ground for the exclusion still persist after a period of six months, 

the Joint Committee (Art. 2 of the Rules for Supraregional Compensation 

of Savings Bank Guarantee Funds) shall – upon proposal 

39



40 

of the Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member institution – resolve 

with a three-quarters majority of the votes represented that the 

member institution concerned shall be barred. In accordance with 

Art. 26, the proposal specified in sentence 3 above shall, in turn, 

require a three-quarters majority of the represented votes of the 

Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member institutions. The member 

institution concerned shall not be entitled to vote; however, it shall 

be given an opportunity to express its opinion prior to the vote. 

(6) The President of the DSGV shall inform the member institution in 

writing about the Joint Committee’s decision, while stating the 

reasons for the exclusion. The exclusion shall be effective as of the 

end of the month following the written notice. Within this period of 

time, the member institution shall be entitled to appeal against its 

exclusion before the Board of the DSGV. Such an appeal shall have 

a suspensive effect; it shall be supported by a written reasoned 

opinion and state why the reasons for objecting to the exclusion 

could not be put forward at an earlier point in time. The Board shall 

rule on the appeal. Where the member institution concerned is 

represented on the Board of the DSGV, it shall not be entitled to 

vote. Should the Board of the DSGV allow the appeal, the member 

institution shall be deemed not to have been excluded; should the 

appeal be rejected, the exclusion shall take effect as of the end of 

the month following the notice of the Board’s decision in writing. 

Art. 19 Consequences of Withdrawal 

(1) Immediately after the withdrawal of a member institution from the 

Guarantee Fund, said institution shall inform the customers 

concerned of its withdrawal and point out that the (future) scope of 

protection available to customers will be in accordance with the 

terms specified in (2) below. The DSGV may publish the member 

institution’s withdrawal from the Guarantee Fund in the Federal 

Gazette and in the local daily newspapers at the member 

institution’s head office. Where the member institution fails to 

perform its obligations under sentence 1, the DSGV may also



41 

inform the customers concerned in an appropriate manner about 

the facts and the legal situation. 

(2) Deposits of the withdrawing institution’s customers as well as debt 

securities issued by said institution shall be protected by the 

Guarantee Fund as stipulated in Art. 2, if they were established 

prior to the announcements as specified in (1) above or if they were 

established within one month after these announcements. 

Liabilities created after this period of time or prolonged at the 

customer’s request, or not terminated or reclaimed by the customer 

at the earliest possible time after this point in time shall not be 

protected. 

(3) The withdrawing member institution’s rights and obligations from 

its participation in the guarantee schemes of the Savings Bank 

Finance Group shall continue in effect until the end of the calendar 

year in which said institution leaves the schemes. The member 

institution shall continue to be liable for any obligations under the 

Guarantee Fund and the Joint Liability Scheme that have arisen 

until this point in time. The member institution’s duty to provide 

information and its duty of care, as well as the Guarantee Fund’s 

rights of supervision shall continue in effect as long as liabilities of 

the withdrawing member institution are covered by the Fund. 




in clause V of the Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Bank Finance 

Group’s Guarantee Schemes (Art. 4(2)).




All parties that are involved in support measures or that become active for 

the purposes of the guarantee schemes of the Savings Bank Finance Group 







Member institutions shall have no legal claim to support measures. 


Member institutions shall participate, actively and passively, in the Joint 

Liability Scheme operated jointly with the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 

of the regional associations and the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen in accordance with the Rules for the Joint Liability 

Scheme. 

Art. 24 Special Right of the DSGV to Dispose of the Guarantee Fund 

(1) The DSGV shall be authorised to dispose of an annual maximum of 

15 per cent of the Guarantee Fund’s total volume. These resources 

shall be used for cases of recourse to the Fund within the Savings 

Bank Finance Group where this seems called for in the interest of 

defending particularly important political interests of the savings 

banks or of preserving the current guarantee system of the Savings 

Bank Finance Group. The Board of the DSGV shall decide whether 

the resources of the Fund will be used in a given case. The granting 

of support may be made contingent on the fulfilment of 

requirements. The Board’s decision as specified in sentence 3 

above can be taken only on the basis of a previous resolution 

42



43 

adopted in accordance with Art. 26 by the Guarantee Fund’s 

ordinary member institutions in support of using the Fund’s 

resources. 

(2) The DSGV’s General Meeting may resolve with a majority of nine 

tenths of its members that the resources specified in (1) above shall 

be used to support institutions outside the Savings Bank Finance 

Group where this helps to promote the savings bank system, and in 

particular, where this is necessary to avoid serious disadvantages 

for the Savings Bank Finance Group. Sentences 3 to 5 in (1) above 

shall apply mutatis mutandis. 


The DSGV shall administer the resources of the Guarantee Fund and shall 

invest them separately from the Association’s other assets as a legally 

dependent special fund. The contributions paid in shall be invested at 

interest in such a way that the necessary liquidity is guaranteed at any 

time, while maintaining a reasonable mix and diversification. 


(1) Resolutions affecting the Guarantee Fund shall be adopted by the 

ordinary member institutions specified in Art. 1(1), with a fourfifths 

majority of the votes represented, unless otherwise stipulated 

in the Rules of the Savings Bank Finance Group. Each ordinary 

member institution shall have one basic vote. In addition, each 

ordinary member institution shall have one additional vote per 10 

per cent share of the Guarantee Fund’s total volume. Each member 

institution’s share shall be computed on the basis of the status as of 

31 December of the previous year. Resolutions affecting the 

Guarantee Fund shall be deemed to have been adopted by a 

committee of the DSGV. The President of the DSGV shall participate 

and have a total of three votes. The meetings shall be chaired by the 

Chairman of the Conference of the Managers of Girozentralen 

(Girozentralleiter-Konferenz).



(2) The DSGV’s General Meeting shall decide on the admission of 

ordinary and affiliated member institutions with a three-quarters 

majority of the votes represented, providing that the ordinary 

member institutions mentioned in Art. 1(1) have previously given 

their approval with a four-fifths majority of the votes represented 

in accordance with (1) above. Resolutions may be adopted in 

writing if a decision is a condition for the acquisition of a banking 

licence by the institution concerned and if it is not possible to wait 

until the next meeting. 


The DSGV shall prepare Annual Accounts and an Annual Report for the 

Fund once a year as of 31 December. These documents shall be submitted 

to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the Deutsche Bundesbank 

and the Guarantee Fund’s member institutions by 31 May of each year. 


The DSGV’s General Meeting shall, upon a proposal of the Guarantee Fund’s 

ordinary member institutions, decide on the Guarantee Fund’s liquidation, 

the procedure to be adopted for its liquidation and the use of the assets held 

by the Fund at this time. 




represented, providing that a resolution to this effect was previously 

adopted by the Guarantee Fund’s ordinary member institutions in 

accordance with Art. 26. Art. 9(1) sentences 4 and 5 of the Statute of the 

DSGV e.V. shall apply mutatis mutandis. 

44


Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 

Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen 




DSGV’s General Meeting on 28 November 2007. 

45



Contents 

I. Function of the Guarantee Fund, Members, Recourse to the Fund 

Art. 1 Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 


Institutions) 









Exposure 











Contributions 

46



V. Withdrawal of Member Institutions 

Art. 17 Withdrawal 

Art. 18 Exclusion 











47



I. Function of the Guarantee Fund, Members, Recourse to 

Fund 

Art. 1 Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 

(1) The Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband e.V. (DSGV) has set up a 

guarantee fund as a scheme to safeguard the following institutions 

(member institutions) in accordance with Section 12 of the German 

Deposit Guarantee and Investor Compensation Act: 

48 

Landesbausparkasse Hessen-Thüringen 

Landesbausparkasse Schleswig-Holstein-Hamburg AG 

LBS Bayerische Landesbausparkasse 

LBS Landesbausparkasse Baden-Württemberg 

LBS Landesbausparkasse Bremen AG 

LBS Landesbausparkasse Rheinland-Pfalz 

LBS Landesbausparkasse Saar 

LBS Norddeutsche Landesbausparkasse Berlin-Hannover 

LBS Ostdeutsche Landesbausparkasse AG 

LBS Westdeutsche Landesbausparkasse. 

(2) Other building societies may join the Guarantee Fund. The Building 

Societies Conference (Bausparkassenkonferenz) shall decide, in 

accordance with Art. 24, whether a building society will be 

admitted to the Guarantee Fund and on what terms. 


Institutions) 

The function of the Guarantee Fund shall be to protect the member 

institutions themselves, in particular to safeguard their liquidity and 

solvency (safeguarding institutions). The Guarantee Fund shall support 

said institutions when they encounter financial difficulties or when they 

are at risk of encountering such difficulties. The Guarantee Fund shall 

invariably protect the member institutions’ customer deposits (balance 

sheet item “Liabilities to depositors”, i.e. to private individuals, business 

enterprises, public authorities) as well as bonds of the member institutions



owned by customers. Customer deposits include in particular savings 

deposits, savings certificates, time deposits and sight deposits. The 

Guarantee Fund is also designed to protect liabilities to capital investment 

companies and their custodian banks (balance sheet item “Liabilities to 

credit institutions”), where the assets involved are part of the fund’s assets, 

as well as resources made available to member institutions for publicly 

funded purposes by credit institutions that are not members of the Savings 

Bank Finance Group (e.g. the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau – 

Reconstruction and Loan Corporation). 


(1) Recourse to the fund shall be granted if a member institution 

encounters financial difficulties, or is at risk of encountering such 

difficulties, especially if the member institution concerned is not 






(Section 2(1) Principles on Own Funds and Liquidity – Principle I). 



Funds and Liquidity – Principle II. 

- The member institution has generated a net loss for the 



exposure and in view of the underlying financial years. 



may jeopardise the survival of the member institution. 

(3) The Building Societies Conference shall decide in accordance with 

Art. 24 whether the conditions for recourse to the fund have been 

fulfilled. 

49






concluded with a member institution and where the institution 

concerned files another application for support measures during 

the term of the agreement, the case shall be treated as a second 

recourse to the Fund under the present Rules. The agreement 

concluded with the member institution concerned may provide 

otherwise where this is required in view of the nature, scope and 

complexity of a given case. If an application for recourse to the 

Joint Liability Scheme is filed in the course of such a case, the Joint 

Committee and the ordinary member institutions of the Guarantee 

Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen may review the need 

for recourse to the Scheme and make the granting of support 

dependent on their review. 


Art. 4 Early Identification of Risks 

(1) The purpose of the Savings Bank Finance Group’s guarantee 

schemes is to identify risks and exposures of member institutions 

as early as possible in order to be able to adopt the necessary 

preventive measures. The member institutions shall be obliged to 

support any measures that help identify risks at an early point in 

time. 

(2) The Guarantee Fund shall operate a risk monitoring system that is 

designed to identify risks at an early point in time and to define 

different levels of information and intervention rights. Further 

details are laid down in the Risk Monitoring Principles of the 

Savings Bank Finance Group’s Guarantee Schemes, which shall be 

part of the present Rules. 1 

1 The Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Bank Finance Group’s Guarantee 

Schemes are adopted separately by the DSGV’s General Meeting. 

50




Committee (Art. 11(3) of the Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of 

the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds, the Guarantee Fund of the 




At its own expense, the member institution shall instruct its auditor to 

certify at least once a year that the figures reported in the framework of risk 

monitoring (Art. 4(2) above) provide a true and fair view. The auditor shall 

have the right and the duty to inform the Building Societies Conference as 

well as the member institution’s board and supervisory body in writing 

about an above-average risk exposure or a violation of general duties of 

care (see Art. 6 below). 


(1) Compliance by member institutions with general duties of care as 

specified in (2) below shall be reviewed within the framework of the 

audit of annual accounts. Member institutions shall be obliged to 

instruct their auditors to include compliance with the provisions of 

the Guarantee Fund and with the relevant duties of care in their 

audits and to mention the results in their audit reports. 



defined in legislation on organisational structures, the present 

Rules and legislation on banking supervision; 






institution (including borrower default risks for specific size 

51



52 


available to the member institution concerned; 




(1) Member institutions shall be obliged to inform the Guarantee Fund 


- circumstances as specified in Art. 3 (2); 




Art. 6 above; 

- risks as a result of which the member institution’s own funds 

can be expected to fall below the requirements specified in 

Section 10(1) of the German Banking Act; 


Banking Act; 



purposes. 

(2) The following bodies shall be authorised to inform the Guarantee 

Fund about any development that might jeopardise the survival or 

seriously impair the development of member institutions: 

- owners of member institutions; 




- auditors of the annual accounts of member institutions; 



The Guarantee Fund shall be authorised to seek from said bodies 

any information that is relevant to the Guarantee Fund in its 

function as a guarantee scheme.




Exposure 

Member institutions shall be obliged to furnish any information or 

documents at the Guarantee Fund’s request that might help to explain and 




institutions shall be obliged to allow audits ordered by the Guarantee Fund 

to be performed at the expense of the institutions concerned. They shall 

grant access to any documents required for the performance of a thorough 

audit. Special audits shall be performed by an auditor who has not audited 

the annual accounts of the member institution concerned in any of the 

three previous financial years. 


In the event of a particular risk exposure, the Guarantee Fund shall be 

entitled to convene a meeting of the members of the supervisory body and 

of the board of the member institution concerned. The Guarantee Fund 

may request the member institution concerned to develop a restructuring 

concept or to take appropriate measures. In order to avoid support 

measures, the Guarantee Fund may require the institution concerned to 

implement measures that will affect its human or physical resources. 



In the event of recourse to the Fund (Art. 3), member institutions shall grant 

the Guarantee Fund full access to information on their financial situation. 

53



They shall make available any information required for the Association to 

assess an institution’s financial status. 


The Building Societies Conference shall decide on the nature and scope of 

the support measures to be implemented and the requirements to be 

imposed (Art. 13). Depending on the financial situation of the member 

institution concerned, any of the following support measures may be 

chosen: 






concerned in return for an assignment of the claims to Guarantee 

Fund. 




of the Guarantee Fund, by the member institution concerned or a 






- an estimate and appraisal of the member institution’s future 





54



55 


member institution’s owner(s) 2 ; 





- accounting measures (e.g. depreciation and value adjustments 

only to the extent that is absolutely necessary, full utilisation of 

choices in the valuation of assets, reversals of depreciation and 

expenses within the limits imposed by statutory provisions); 

- selling or transferring participating interests and other assets; 



- implementing measures that affect a member institution’s 

human resources, in particular dismissing responsible board 

members; 

- merging institutions, subject to statutory provisions; 

- transferring shares in the institution concerned, while bearing 

in mind the goals of the Savings Bank Finance Group as an 

association; 




(3) The member institution’s specific problems and the effects 

associated with a requirement shall be considered when imposing 

requirements. Member institutions shall be obliged to fulfil the 

requirements without delay. 



agreement. This agreement shall stipulate the reorganisation measures, the 

financial resources to be spent, the requirements to be met and the 

duration of the reorganisation phase, as well as the conditions on which the 

member institution is obliged to repay reorganisation funds. 

2 Also applies to other forms of organisation.





The contributions to be made to the Guarantee Fund shall vary depending 

on the risk exposure of member institutions and shall be collected from 

member institutions by the Federal Office (Bundesgeschäftsstelle). The 

determination of the level of contributions shall be subject to the Principles 

of Risk-based Computation of Contributions to the Guarantee Schemes of 

the Savings Bank Finance Group, which shall be part of the present Rules. 

Any interest accrued and income earned shall be part of the Fund’s assets. 


Contributions 

(1) The Guarantee Fund’s total volume shall be composed of liquid 

funds and obligations to make additional contributions and shall 

be determined in accordance with the standard principles specified 

in Art. 15. The liquid funds to be contributed shall amount to at 

least one-third of the Fund’s total volume (pay-in target). The 

remaining amount (not exceeding two-thirds of the total volume) 

shall be made up of obligations to make additional contributions. 

The Building Societies Conference may raise the limit for liquid 

funds to a level above the pay-in target. Where this option is exercised, 

the additional cash payments made shall be credited against 

the remaining obligations to make additional contributions. 

(2) Member institutions shall be obliged to make annual cash 







replenishment obligation, the Guarantee Fund may also be 

replenished, either fully or partially, through special assessments 

56



57 

by virtue of a resolution adopted by the Building Societies 

Conference. 


recourse to the Guarantee Fund, the cash contributions made to the 

Fund fall short of the pay-in target. If the Guarantee Fund’s cash 

resources are not sufficient to handle the case, the Fund's cash 

resources shall first of all be replenished to the level required, however, 

without exceeding the pay-in target. 

(4) If, due to a member institution’s recourse to the Guarantee Fund, 

the Fund’s cash resources have been depleted up to the level of the 

pay-in target, and if more cash is required, the obligation to make 

additional contributions shall take effect; said contributions shall 

be made at the first request. The additional contributions to be 

made shall amount to the Fund’s total volume less the cash 

contributions already made. Should these additional contributions 

still be insufficient to cover the financial requirements in the case 

concerned, the Guarantee Fund may have recourse to the Joint 

Liability Scheme. 

(5) Recourse to the member institutions’ obligation to make additional 

contributions (Art. 16(1)) or their replenishment obligation (Art. 

16(3)) must not expose individual member institutions to a 

substantial risk. The member institution concerned shall notify the 

Guarantee Fund of an exposure to such a substantial risk without 

undue delay, however, no later than prior to the adoption of a resolution 

as specified in Art. 12(1). Should the Building Societies 

Conference find that a member institution is exposed to such a 

substantial risk, the Board may release the institution concerned 

from its obligation, either fully or partially, or the Building 

Societies Conference may allow deferred performance of the member 

institution’s obligation. The shortfall shall be compensated for 

within the framework of the Guarantee Fund. The decision-making 

procedure shall comply with Art. 24 below. The member 

institutions that have not made their contributions shall not be 

entitled to vote on the resolution specified in sentence 3 and Art. 12 

above.



(6) Where recourse to the member institutions’ obligation to make 



institutions of the Guarantee Fund, the Fund may have recourse to 

the Joint Liability Scheme and appeal to the Joint Liability Scheme 

in order to apply for advance provision of funds for support 

measures. 

V. Withdrawal of Member Institutions 

Art. 17 Withdrawal 

(1) Membership in the Guarantee Fund may be terminated in writing 

by 30 June of each calendar year, effective as of the end of the next 

but one calendar year. 

(2) The funds contributed by the withdrawing member institution 

shall not be repaid. 

Art. 18 Exclusion 

(1) A member institution may be barred from the Guarantee Fund if 

the institution has seriously violated the duties incumbent upon it 

under the present Rules or if it withdraws from the Savings Bank 

Finance Group. 

(2) Art. 17(2) shall apply mutatis mutandis. 

58






in clause VI of the Risk Monitoring Principles of the Savings Bank Finance 

Group’s Guarantee Schemes (Art. 4(2)). 










Member institutions shall have no legal claim to support measures. 


Member institutions shall participate, actively and passively, in the Joint 

Liability Scheme operated jointly with the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 

of the regional associations and the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken 

and Girozentralen in accordance with the Rules for the Joint Liability 

Scheme. 


The DSGV shall administer the resources of the Guarantee Fund and shall 

invest them separately from the Association’s other assets as a legally 

59



dependent special fund. The contributions paid in shall be invested at 

interest in such a way that the necessary liquidity is guaranteed at any 

time, while maintaining a reasonable mix and diversification. 


Any resolutions required under the present Rules shall be adopted by the 

Building Societies Conference with a three-quarters majority of the votes 

represented, where each of the institutions listed in Art. 1(1) shall have one vote. 


The DSGV shall prepare Annual Accounts and an Annual Report for the 

Fund once a year as of 31 December. These documents shall be submitted 

to the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, the Deutsche Bundesbank 

and the Guarantee Fund’s member institutions by 31 May of each year. 


The DSGV’s General Meeting shall, upon a proposal of the Building 

Societies Conference, decide on the Guarantee Fund’s liquidation, the 

procedure to be adopted for its liquidation and the use of the assets held by 

the Fund at that time. 


Providing that a resolution for an amendment was previously adopted by 

the Building Societies Conference, amendments to the present Rules shall 

be adopted at a General Meeting of the DSGV and shall require a threequarters 

majority of the votes represented. Art. 9(1) sentences 4 and 5 of the 

Statute of the DSGV e.V. shall apply mutatis mutandis. 

60


Rules for the Supraregional Compensation Scheme of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 

Rules for the Supraregional Compensation Scheme 

of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds 





61



Contents 

Art. 1 Recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme 

Art. 2 Joint Committee 

Art. 3 Conditions for Recourse to the Supraregional Compensation 

Scheme 

Art. 4 Provision of Funds 

Art. 5 Duty to Notify the DSGV 

Art. 6 Duty to Inform the Joint Committee 


Art. 8 Requirements 


Art. 10 Exclusion of Legal Claims 

Art. 11 Special Right of the DSGV to Dispose of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds 


Art. 13 Affiliation of Landesbanken/Girozentralen with Regional 

Guarantee Funds 

Art. 14 Adoption of Resolutions in Writing 



62



Art. 1 Recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme 

(1) Regional associations of savings banks and their giro institutions 

maintain funds to support their member savings banks (savings 

bank guarantee funds). 

(2) Should the expenses incurred by a regional savings bank and giro 

centre association for the settlement of a support case be in excess 

of the funds to be provided by the regional savings bank guarantee 

fund pursuant to the Model Rules for Savings Bank Guarantee 

Funds, the excess shall be covered by a Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme operated by the savings bank guarantee 

funds in accordance with the provisions specified below, providing 

that the provisions of the Model Rules for Savings Bank Guarantee 

Funds have been complied with. In the event of a merger between 

regional associations, the savings bank guarantee funds of the 

associations involved shall be integrated into a single savings bank 

guarantee fund. The merger agreement may provide that, for a 

period of five years as of the effective date of the merger, the 

formerly separate savings bank guarantee funds that have been 

integrated into the merged savings bank guarantee fund shall be 

treated by the merged regional association as separate entities for 

accounting purposes, and that any cases of recourse during this 

period of time shall be allocated to the part of the separately 

managed guarantee fund that would have been responsible for 

handling the recourse prior to the merger. In this case, the 

separately managed parts of the savings bank guarantee fund shall 

be treated like separate funds for the purposes of the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme. 

(3) Should payments made on account of obligations to make 

additional contributions and, in particular, to replenish funds in 

accordance with the requirements laid down in the Model Rules for 

the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds pose a substantial risk for 

several member savings banks of a guarantee fund (Art. 16(6) of the 

Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of Regional 

Associations), the regional association concerned shall be entitled 

to appeal directly to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme in 

63



64 

order to apply for advance funding of support measures by the 

Supraregional Compensation Scheme. The regional association 

concerned shall notify its exposure to such a substantial risk 

without undue delay, however, no later than prior to the adoption 

of a resolution on the measures to be implemented as specified in 

(5) below. The representatives of the regions that have not made 

their contributions shall not be entitled to vote on the resolution on 

measures as specified in (5) below. 

(4) Where, in accordance with Art. 1(3) of the Rules for the Guarantee 

Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen, an institution was 

affiliated with the Guarantee Fund via a separate fund and if the 

resources of this fund are depleted when an institution requests 

support, the necessary resources shall be provided by the 

Supraregional Compensation Scheme, providing that the 

institution concerned has complied with the provisions of the 

affiliation agreement. 

(5) The Board of the DSGV shall decide whether the requirements for 

recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme have been 

met and what measures should be implemented. This decision 

shall be taken with a simple majority of the votes represented, 

subject to a prior affirmative resolution by the Joint Committee 

(Art. 2). 

(6) Should the resolution of the Joint Committee as specified in (5) 

sentence 2 fail to reach the required majority, the Board of the 

DSGV may once – with a two-thirds majority of the votes 

represented – refer the case back to the Joint Committee for a 

second resolution. 

Art. 2 Joint Committee 

The Joint Committee shall be composed of the President of the DSGV, the 

Federal Spokesman (Bundesobmann), as well as the association chairmen 

and the spokesmen of the regional associations that maintain guarantee 

funds. Each member of this Committee shall have the same voting right;



resolutions shall be adopted with a three-quarters majority of the votes 

represented. The Committee shall be chaired by the Chairman of the 

Conference of Association Chairmen (Verbandsvorsteherkonferenz). Where 

recourse to the Supraregional Compensation Scheme is requested by the 

Chairman of the Conference of Association Chairmen, the Joint Committee 

shall elect another chairman at the beginning of the meeting to handle this 

request for recourse. 

Art. 3 Conditions for Recourse to the Supraregional Compensation 

Scheme 

(1) Before having recourse to the Supraregional Compensation 

Scheme, the regional savings bank guarantee fund concerned shall 

first utilise its own liquid funds and obligations to make additional 

contributions in accordance with Art. 16 of the Model Rules for the 

Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations. 

(2) If the regional savings bank guarantee fund concerned has fulfilled 

its obligations pursuant to (1) above, any additional funding 

requirements will be covered on a pro-rata basis from the liquid 

funds of the other regional savings bank guarantee funds. Said 

guarantee funds shall initially provide resources up to a maximum 

of their pay-in target (1/3 of total volume). The share to be borne by 

each regional savings bank guarantee fund or an individual 

member savings bank shall be determined on the basis of the payin 

targets. The provisions concerning the replenishment of liquid 

funds as laid down in Art. 16(3) of the Model Rules for the Savings 

Bank Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations shall apply mutatis 

mutandis. 

(3) If the liquid funds of all regional savings bank guarantee funds 

have been depleted and if more funds are needed to handle a case 

of recourse, the other regional savings bank guarantee funds shall 

be obliged to make additional contributions in accordance with Art. 

16(4) of the Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of 

Regional Associations. The share to be borne by each regional 

65



66 

savings bank guarantee fund or an individual member savings 

bank shall be determined on the basis of the pay-in targets. 

(4) Where the resources of all the regional savings bank guarantee 

funds in terms of liquid funds and obligations to make additional 

contributions have been depleted, the resources required shall be 

provided by the Joint Liability Scheme in accordance with Art. 12. 


The regional association requesting resources from the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme shall receive said resources from the DSGV. The 

resources shall be provided by the savings bank guarantee funds of the 

regional associations. 

Art. 5 Duty to Notify the DSGV 

The filing regional savings bank and giro centre association shall notify the 

DSGV in advance and in time of the necessity to utilise the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme, as well as the planned measures and the amount of 

the funds that will probably be required. 

Art. 6 Duty to Inform the Joint Committee 

(1) The regional savings bank and giro centre association filing the 

application shall be obliged to provide extensive information to the 

Joint Committee about the case of recourse concerned. The filing 

regional association shall make available in time prior to the Joint 

Committee’s meeting documents that will specify the reasons for 

the recourse, the current risk exposure, the support measures 

already implemented, the requirements imposed as well as a 

forecast of the future development of the member savings bank to 

be supported. Art. 11 of the Model Rules for the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations shall apply mutatis 

mutandis.



(2) The DSGV or the Joint Committee may, where they consider this to 

be necessary, invite the board members of the savings bank 

concerned to attend the meeting. The board members of the 

savings bank concerned shall be obliged to provide the information 

requested to the Joint Committee. 


The Board of the DSGV may, subject to prior approval by the Joint 

Committee, order the support measures required. Depending on the 

financial situation of the member savings bank concerned, any of the 

following support measures may be chosen: 





- Meeting claims by third parties against the member savings bank 

concerned in return for an assignment of the claims to the Savings 

Bank Guarantee Fund. 


The Joint Committee may impose requirements on the provision of funds 

from the Supraregional Compensation Scheme. Art. 13 of the Model Rules 

for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations shall apply 

mutatis mutandis. 



agreement. The President of the DSGV as well as another managing 

member shall jointly sign the agreement on behalf of the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme. Art. 14 of the Model Rules for the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations shall apply mutatis mutandis. 

67



Art. 10 Exclusion of Legal Claims 

The member savings banks and the regional savings bank guarantee funds 

shall have no legal claim to support measures within the framework of the 

Supraregional Compensation Scheme. 

Art. 11 Special Right of the DSGV to Dispose of the Savings Bank Guarantee 

Funds 

(1) The DSGV shall be authorised to dispose of an annual maximum of 

15 per cent of the total volume of the regional savings bank 

guarantee funds. These resources shall be used for cases of 

recourse within the Savings Banks Finance Group where this seems 

called for in the interest of defending particularly important 

political interests of the savings banks or of preserving the current 

guarantee system of the Savings Bank Finance Group. The Board of 

the DSGV shall decide whether resources will be made available in 

a given case. The granting of support may be made contingent on 

the fulfilment of requirements. The Board’s decision as specified in 

sentence 3 above can be taken only on the basis of a previous resolution 

adopted by the Joint Committee with a three-quarters 

majority in support of making available resources. 

(2) The DSGV’s General Meeting may resolve with a majority of nine 

tenths of its members that the resources specified in (1) above shall 

be used to support institutions outside the Savings Bank Finance 

Group where this helps to promote the savings bank system, and in 

particular, where this is necessary to avoid serious disadvantages 

for the Savings Bank Finance Group. Sentences 3 to 5 in (1) above 

shall apply mutatis mutandis. 


The regional savings bank guarantee funds affiliated with the 

Supraregional Compensation Scheme, the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen, as well as the Guarantee Fund of the 

68



Landesbausparkassen are parties to a Joint Liability Scheme which shall be 

used in accordance with the Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of the 

Savings Bank Guarantee Funds, the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken 

and Girozentralen as well as the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen. 

Art. 13 Affiliation of Landesbanken/Girozentralen with Regional Guarantee 


Landesbanken and Girozentralen may join a regional savings bank 

guarantee fund, subject to approval by a resolution of the DSGV’s General 

Meeting adopted with a four-fifths majority. In this case, the institution 

concerned shall be deemed to be a member savings bank within the 

meaning of the present Rules and the Model Rules for the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds of Regional Associations. 


The required decisions may be taken in writing, unless this is opposed by 

any of the members. 



the purposes of the guarantee schemes of the Savings Banks Finance Group 






69







apply mutatis mutandis. 

70


Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds as well as the Guarantee 

Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen and the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 

Rules for the Joint Liability Scheme of the Savings 

Bank Guarantee Funds as well as the Guarantee Fund 

of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen and the 

Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen 




DSGV’s General Meeting on 28 November 2007. 

71




Contents 

Art. 1 Recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme 


Art. 3 Conditions for Recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme 

Art. 4 Duty to Notify 

Art. 5 Duty to Inform 

Art. 6 Reorganisation Measures 





Art. 11 Transparency Committee 



72




Art. 1 Recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme 

(1) The guarantee schemes of the Savings Bank Finance Group 

(Association of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds for 

Supraregional Compensation, the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen, and the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen) shall form a Joint Liability Scheme in which 

funds shall be used for mutual support. 

(2) Should the expenses required in the event of recourse to a scheme 

be in excess of the funds (liquid funds and obligations to make 

additional contributions) available to the guarantee scheme 

concerned, the Joint Liability Scheme with the two other guarantee 

schemes shall assume liability in accordance with the provisions 

specified below. 


(1) The guarantee scheme that has applied for funds from the Joint 

Liability Scheme shall receive said funds from the DSGV. The DSGV 

shall use the funds of the two other guarantee schemes (liquid 

funds and obligations to make additional contributions) for the 

support measure in accordance with the ratio of the total volumes 

of the two facilities. The Regional Associations shall be obliged to 

pay the funds to be provided by them to the DSGV or any other 

institution designated by the DSGV. 

(2) Should payments made on account of obligations to make 

additional contributions and, in particular, to replenish funds in 

accordance with requirements laid down in the Rules for the 

Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen, the Rules 

for the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbausparkassen or the Rules for 

the Supraregional Compensation Scheme of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds pose a substantial risk for several member 

institutions, the guarantee scheme concerned shall be entitled to 

appeal directly to the Joint Liability Scheme in order to apply for 

advance provision of reorganisation payments by the Joint 

73




74 

Liability Scheme. The guarantee scheme concerned shall notify the 

Joint Liability Scheme of its exposure to a substantial risk without 

undue delay, however, no later than prior to the adoption of a 

resolution as specified in (3) below. The guarantee schemes as well 

as – in the context of the adoption of the prior resolutions specified 

in paragraph (3), subparagraphs (2) and (3) – the member 

institutions that have not made their contributions shall not be 

entitled to vote on the resolution specified in paragraph (3) below. 

(3) The Board of the DSGV shall decide whether the requirements for 

recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme have been met and what 

measures should be implemented. Said decision shall be taken by a 

simple majority of the votes represented, subject to the following 

conditions: 

1. Utilisation of the resources of the Savings Bank Guarantee 


Any utilisation of resources from the regional Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds for support measures in favour of 

Landesbanken, Girozentralen or Landesbausparkassen shall be 

subject to an affirmative resolution adopted by the Joint 

Committee (Art. 2 of the Rules for the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds) 

with a three-quarters majority of the votes represented. 

2. Utilisation of the resources of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen 

The utilisation of the resources of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen for support measures in 

favour of Savings Banks or Landesbausparkassen shall be 

subject to an affirmative resolution to be adopted by the 

ordinary members of the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken 

and Girozentralen with a three-quarters majority of the votes 

represented. The decision-making procedure shall comply with 

Art. 26(1) of the Rules for the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbanken and Girozentralen.




75 

3. Utilisation of resources of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen 

The utilisation of resources of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen for support measures in favour of 

savings banks or Landesbanken/Girozentralen shall be subject 

to an affirmative resolution by the Building Societies 

Conference. Said resolution shall be adopted with a threequarters 

majority of the votes represented, where each 

institution shall have one vote. 

(4) Should any of the resolutions required under paragraph 3, 

subparagraphs (1) to (3) above fail to reach the required majority, 

the Board of the DSGV may once – with a two-thirds majority of the 

votes represented – refer the case back to the responsible body for a 

second resolution. 

Art. 3 Conditions for Recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme 

Before having recourse to the Joint Liability Scheme, the guarantee scheme 

filing the application shall first utilise its own liquid funds and obligations 

to make additional contributions in accordance with its own rules. Where 

support is granted to a savings bank, the resources of the Supraregional 

Compensation Scheme shall first be utilised in accordance with the Rules 

for the Supraregional Compensation Scheme of the Savings Bank 

Guarantee Funds. This shall not affect the provisions stipulated in Art. 2(2) 

above. 

Art. 4 Duty to Notify 

A guarantee scheme that intends to have recourse to the Joint Liability 

Scheme shall notify the DSGV in advance and in time of the necessity to 

utilise the scheme, as well as the planned measures and the amount of the 

funds that will probably be required. Provided that the requirements for 

the use of the Joint Liability Scheme have been met, the DSGV shall notify 

the other guarantee schemes concerned.




Art. 5 Duty to Inform 

The guarantee scheme filing the application shall be obliged to provide 

extensive information about the support case to the bodies mentioned in 

Art. 2(3) above. The filing guarantee scheme shall make available in time 

prior to the meetings documents that will specify the reasons for the 

support case, the current risk exposure, the support measures already 

implemented, the requirements imposed as well as a forecast of the future 

development of the institution to be supported. 

Art. 6 Reorganisation Measures 

In accordance with Art. 2(3) above, the Board of the DSGV may order the 

reorganisation measures required. Depending on the financial situation of 

the member institution concerned, any of the following support measures 

may be chosen: 

- Allocating liable resources, in the form of lost contributions (equity 


- Furnishing guarantees and suretyships; 



concerned in return for an assignment of the claims to the relevant 

guarantee scheme. 


The Board of the DSGV may impose requirements on the provision of funds 

from the Joint Liability Scheme. Art. 13 of the Model Rules for the Savings 

Bank Guarantee Funds of the Regional Associations shall apply mutatis 

mutandis. 



agreement. The President of the DSGV and another managing member 

76




shall jointly sign the agreement on behalf of the Joint Liability Scheme. 

Art. 14 of the Model Rules for the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of the 

Regional Associations shall apply mutatis mutandis. 


The member institutions or the filing guarantee schemes of the Savings 

Bank Finance Group shall have no legal claim to any support measures in 

the framework of the Joint Liability Scheme. 


The required decisions may be taken in writing. 

Art. 11 Transparency Committee 

(1) A Transparency Committee shall be established. The Committee 

shall be composed of six members: 

- two representatives of the Savings Bank Guarantee Funds of the 

Regional Associations, 

- two representatives of the Guarantee Fund of the Landesbanken 

and Girozentralen, 

- one representative of the Guarantee Fund of the 

Landesbausparkassen, and 

- one representative of the DSGV to be nominated by the 

President. 

The representatives of each of the groups shall be appointed by the 

Board of the DSGV upon proposals made by the chairmen of the 

Regional Associations, the ordinary members of the Guarantee 

Fund of the Landesbanken and Girozentralen as well as the Building 

Societies Conference, respectively. 

(2) The Transparency Committee shall have the following duties: 

- to assess the risk exposure of the Savings Bank Finance Group 

guarantee schemes, 

77




78 

- to create transparency among the Savings Bank Finance Group 

guarantee schemes with regard to risk exposure, 

- to ensure consistent application of the risk monitoring 

principles and the principles of risk-based computation of 

contributions to the guarantee schemes, 

- to continue to develop the risk monitoring concept and the 

concept of risk-based computation of contributions to the 

guarantee schemes, 

- to coordinate the Savings Bank Finance Group guarantee 

schemes in fundamental matters of fund management, 

- to keep evidence of cases of recourse and reorganisation. 

(3) Each guarantee scheme shall be obliged to provide the following 

information to the Transparency Committee: 

- risk monitoring findings, the results of the computation of 

contributions to the guarantee scheme, information on the 

fund's status and utilization and on the current status of 

support measures, 

- audited annual accounts and annual reports of the guarantee 

schemes, as soon as they are available, and 

- reports of cases of recourse to the fund (including relevant 

agreements) and reorganisation processes, as soon as they 

become known. 

In addition, the Transparency Committee shall be entitled to 

request information and statements that help to shed light on the 

risk exposure of a guarantee scheme and to assess the consistent 

application of the risk monitoring principles and the consistent 

application of the principles of risk-based computation of the 

contributions to the guarantee schemes. The Savings Bank Finance 

Group guarantee schemes shall be obliged to provide such 

information and statements. 

(4) The Transparency Committee shall be entitled to take any action 

that is appropriate and necessary for the performance of its duties. 

This shall include in particular: 

- making recommendations to the guarantee schemes within the 

framework of its terms of reference,




79 

- inviting a representative of a guarantee scheme or of the body 

in charge of risk monitoring to attend meetings of the 

Transparency Committee, 

- sending a representative of the Transparency Committee to 

meetings of the guarantee scheme’s body in charge of risk 

monitoring, 

- reporting to the Presidium of the DSGV, and 

- convening the Joint Committee in agreement with the latter’s 

Chairman. 

The guarantee schemes shall be obliged to cooperate in the actions 

initiated by the Transparency Committee. 

(5) The number of meetings of the Transparency Committee shall 

depend on the risk monitoring survey frequency decided by the 

Board of the DSGV. Extraordinary Committee meetings shall be 

convened: 

- at the reasoned request of a member of the Transparency 

Committee, 

- at the request of a guarantee scheme of the Savings Bank 

Finance Group, and 

- if the sum total of the support volumes approved by all the 

guarantee schemes of the Savings Bank Finance Group is in 

excess of one-third of the total volume of the Joint Liability 

Scheme. 

(6) Once a year, the Transparency Committee shall submit a report to 

the Presidium of the DSGV. This report shall identify particular 

cases of risk exposure and provide an overview of the risks that the 

Savings Bank Finance Group guarantee schemes are exposed to. 

Copies of this report shall be made available to all the guarantee 

schemes of the Savings Banks Finance Group. All business data 

shall be treated confidentially. 

The Transparency Committee shall submit a report to the 

Presidium if the sum total of the support volumes approved by all 

the guarantee schemes of the Savings Bank Finance Group is in 

excess of one-third of the total volume of the Joint Liability Scheme. 

In this case, all the guarantee schemes shall be informed about the 

situation.




(7) The office of the Transparency Committee shall be run by the 

DSGV. The office shall accept any reports, documents or other 

information provided by the guarantee schemes and shall prepare 

the Transparency Committee’s meetings, decisions and reports. 

(8) The Board of the DSGV shall decide whether information provided 

by the Transparency Committee may be disclosed to third parties. 

(9) The members of the Transparency Committee shall be bound to 

treat confidentially all operations and information that they take 

cognizance of in the performance of their duties; this shall continue 

to apply after the termination of their membership in the 

Transparency Committee. 









Art. 13 Amendments to Rules 




apply mutatis mutandis. 

80

Imprint 

PuBliSheR 

Deutscher Sparkassen- 

und Giroverband 

Charlottenstraße 47 

10117 Berlin 

Germany 

Phone: +49-30-20225-0 

Fax: +49-30-20225-250 

www.dsgv.de 

ResponsIbIlIty 

Department: 

Savings Banks Policy, 

Banking Supervision 

Dr. Stefan larisch 

Gabriele hensel 

legal Department 

Dr. hartmut Frings 

ContaCt 

Department: 

Financial Market Relations 

Dr. Thomas Keidel 

Phone: +49-30-20225-5280 

Fax: +49-30-20225-5285 

e-Mail: Thomas.Keidel@dsgv.de 

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