ALPINE INVESTMENTS BV V MINISTER VAN FINANCIEN. EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE LUXEMBOURG
| Published date | 01 January 1996 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb024872 |
| Pages | 104-109 |
| Date | 01 January 1996 |
| Author | Joanna Gray |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
MARKETING INVESTMENTS IN THE EUROPEAN SINGLE
MARKET AND NATIONAL INVESTOR PROTECTION LAWS
ALPINE INVESTMENTS BV V MINISTER VAN FINANCIEN
EUROPEAN
COURT
OF
JUSTICE
LUXEMBOURG
Date of Advocate General's Opinion: 26th January, 1995
Date of Judgment: 10th May, 1995
Case Reference: C-384/93
THE FACTS
The applicant, Alpine Investments
BV, was a company incorporated and
established in the Netherlands
specialising in commodities futures
business. Its business concerned com-
modities futures in relation to which
it offered portfolio management ser-
vices,
investment advice and the
transmission of clients' orders to
commodities futures brokers operat-
ing on markets both within and out-
side the European Community. It
had no place of establishment outside
the Netherlands but its clients were
resident in the UK, Belgium, France
and the Netherlands.
Dutch securities law prohibited a
person from acting as an intermedi-
ary in securities transactions without
a licence, but empowered the Minis-
ter of Finance to grant an exemption
from that prohibition in special cir-
cumstances. Such an exemption
could be 'subject to restrictions and
conditions with a view to preventing
undesirable developments in securi-
ties trading'.
On 6th September, 1991, the Min-
ister for Finance granted the appli-
cant an exemption permitting it to
place orders with Merrill Lynch Inc.
This exemption required Alpine
Investments to comply with any rules
which might be issued by the Minis-
ter of Finance in the near future
regarding its contacts with potential
clients.
On 1st October, 1991, against a
background of mounting complaints
from investors both inside and out-
side the Netherlands in commodities
futures, the Minister for Finance
announced a ban on financial inter-
mediaries offering investments in off-
market commodities futures from
cold-calling potential clients. This
104
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