A German court ruling has clarified, but not conclusively determined, the extent to which the Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder (VBL) must disclose details of its investment portfolio.

In a first-instance decision, the Administrative Court of Karlsruhe found that VBL is obliged to provide information on individual capital investments under certain conditions, granting the plaintiff a restricted right to information for the years 2020 and 2021.

The court stated that disclosure is only required where no trade or business secrets are involved and noted that VBL had already fulfilled its broader reporting obligations under the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG).

The legal and practical implications of the judgment remain unclear and will be further examined once the court's written reasoning is made available, expected in the coming weeks.

VBL has stated that it continues to meet all legal requirements applicable to German pension funds and comparable occupational pension schemes.

The institution currently manages approximately €65bn in assets and, in 2024, paid around €5.9bn in benefits to 1.5 million pensioners.

VBL is Germany’s largest supplementary pension provider for the public sector, serving around 5.3 million insured individuals and 5,400 employers.

Its participants include the federal and state governments, municipal bodies, and social security institutions.

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