BaFin Orders Ventus Energy to Stop Unauthorized Deposit-Taking and Repay Investors

On May 18, 2026, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) published a consumer notice ordering Ventus Energy Group OÜ to immediately cease and wind up its unauthorized deposit-taking business. The administrative order is dated May 5, 2026.

Ventus Energy Group OÜ: BaFin orders cessation and winding-up of deposit-taking business

By administrative order dated May 5, 2026, BaFin has ordered Ventus Energy Group OÜ, headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, to immediately cease its deposit-taking business, which it has been operating without the required authorization, and to wind it up without delay.

Ventus Energy Group OÜ has accepted funds from investors in Germany on the basis of loan agreements. These funds are unconditionally repayable, without the repayment claim being securitized in bearer or order debt securities. Ventus Energy Group OÜ is therefore conducting deposit-taking business within the meaning of Section 1(1) sentence 2 no. 1 of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz) without the authorization from BaFin required for such activity.

The winding-up order obliges Ventus Energy Group OÜ to repay the accepted funds without delay.

BaFin’s administrative order is immediately enforceable by operation of law; however, it is not yet legally final.

Context

I filed a complaint with BaFin on December 11, 2025 (case reference HGS-QB 9100/01014#01777), reporting Ventus for operating an unlicensed deposit-taking business under the German Banking Act. The complaint was based on findings from my investigation into Ventus Energy, published December 2, 2025.

BaFin’s public notice now confirms the central legal issue raised in that complaint: Ventus accepted unconditionally repayable investor funds in Germany without the required authorization under the German Banking Act. The order requires Ventus to stop and to repay investors.

According to affiliate network data, Germany accounted for 47% of Ventus’s Q1 2026 transaction volume. On May 13, Ventus emailed investors that German lending was temporarily unavailable, describing the situation as “constructive dialogue with relevant regulatory stakeholders” and attributing the pause to their own legal advisors identifying areas for improvement. The administrative order, dated May 5, tells a different story: BaFin had already ordered Ventus to stop and to repay.