Contracts for difference (CFDs) (see info box “What are CFDs?”) have a solely digital history – unlike shares, which shareholders could request to be issued in paper form until 1994. Marketing, distribution and sale activities for CFDs have always been carried out exclusively online, often on a cross-border basis. The problem is the fact that CFDs entail a high level of risk. In the summer of 2019, BaFin greatly restricted the marketing, distribution and sale to retail investors (see info box “CFD product intervention measure”). Where these restrictions are not observed, the high risks posed by CFDs for retail ... (full story)