Capital formation benefits (CFB) fund account

After the end of the contract term, the purchased fund shares are freely available. You can request these free shares to be paid out to you on short notice by means of an informal selling order. In the selling order, make clear reference to these freely available shares. For the transfer of the proceeds, please submit a personally signed selling order, indicating your bank details.

You can all times terminate your running CFB contract prematurely. However, in this case you will lose the claim to the employee savings allowance for the capital already saved.

Termination without losing the claim to the employee savings allowance is only possible in certain cases, e.g. in the event of death, marriage, unemployment for more than one year or further professional training (Section 4 (4) of the German Capital Formation Act (VermBG)). Due evidence must be furnished, e.g. in the form of a confirmation from the training institution, marriage certificate, notice of unemployment benefits).

In all other cases, termination of the contract may result in loss of the claim to the employee savings allowance for the capital already saved. Notice of termination must be given directly to Fondsdepot Bank.

To verify the origin and accuracy of an order placed, please sign the order personally and specify your custody account number and bank details. Please note that in the event of termination, we will charge you for the full custody account fee, as agreed at the conclusion of the contract.

A follow-up contract can easily be concluded for a future investment. It is possible to invest in the existing CFB account if you send Fondsdepot Bank a personally signed order without delay. Your personal advisor will be pleased to introduce a range of CFB-capable funds to you. Alternatively, you can order the subsequent payments into the same fund.

It is not possible to switch to another fund during the term of the savings plan.

If you wish, we can set up a new contract for you for the continued investment of capital formation benefits (CFB) in another fund. This gives you the opportunity to invest the amounts transferred by your employer in another fund. The purpose of specified in your employer's standing order must be changed to the new securities identification number. This is necessary to ensure automatic allocation to your CFB fund account.

We will inform your employer about the change and give him the new transfer details. For this, Fondsdepot Bank needs the valid contact details. 

Good to know: The term of your new CFB contract starts with the receipt of the first savings instalment. The old contract will be suspended until the original maturity.

Please inform us in text form or by telephone via our service hotline that you have a new employer, specifying your custody account number. We will be pleased to send you documents with transfer details for your new employer. Please forward the relevant part to the HR department. Please use the reply form for Fondsdepot Bank to provide us with the data of your new employer for storage in your CFB fund account.

Your employer pays the capital formation benefits (CFB) agreed with you or in the collective labour agreement for a period of six years. After the end of the six-year contribution period, the purchased investment shares will be suspended until 31 December of the respective year. As of 1 January of the subsequent year, your balance will be at your free disposal.

Example:

Start of the contract:       16 July 2019 (first transfer by the employer)
End of contribution period:    30 June 2025  (six-year saving phase ends, vesting period starts)
End of vesting period:        1 January 2026  (balance freely available at the current price)

The amount that will be paid out depends on the current redemption price of your fund on the settlement date.

Unless you give us a different order, a follow-up CFB contract will continue in the same fund if your employer continues to make payments after the end of the contribution period.

In this case, your contract will continue without any obligation to pay contributions. Nevertheless, you can pay directly to your Fondsdepot Bank CFB fund account during the contribution phase. Your own contributions are not eligible for the savings allowance.

Please specify the following data in your transfer:

Payee: Fondsdepot Bank GmbH
Name of the bank: Commerzbank
IBAN: DE 60 6008 0000 0914 4055 00
SWIFT BIC: DRES DE FF 600
Purpose: Custody account no., ISIN, name

You can find the international securities identification number (ISIN) on your custody account statements.

Your contract will continue until the end of the vesting period, as agreed at the conclusion of the contract. The contractual term will not be extended by the period of the parental leave or sickness. The custody account management fee is always charged in full.

In this case, your contract will continue without any obligation to pay contributions. Nevertheless, you can pay directly to your Fondsdepot Bank CFB fund account during the contribution phase.

Please specify the following data in your transfer:

Payee: Fondsdepot Bank GmbH
Name of the bank: Commerzbank
IBAN: DE 60 6008 0000 0914 4055 00
SWIFT BIC: DRES DE FF 600
Purpose: Custody account no., ISIN, name

You can find the international securities identification number (ISIN) on your custody account statements.

Your contract will continue until the end of the vesting period, as agreed at the conclusion of the contract. The contract term does not end upon retirement.

The custody account management fee is always charged in full. There is no arrangement for pro-rata fees.

Yes, you can make direct payments to your CFB fund account in order to avoid interruptions. However, the state subsidy is only granted up to the statutory subsidy cap of €400 per calendar year on transfers by the employer.

A fund account with a CFB saving amount can only be opened and maintained as an individual custody account held in the name of the CFB saver.

Shortly before the end of the vesting period, Fondsdepot Bank will inform you in writing that the amount can be paid out. The letter will be accompanied by a reply form to request the amount to be paid out.

However, it is also possible to leave the fund shares in the custody account after the end of the contract term. In this case, they will be transformed into "free fund shares". They will be kept in a fund account, and Fondsdepot Bank will charge the yearly custody account management fee according to the applicable schedule of fees and services.

After your Fondsdepot Bank CFB fund account is successfully opened, Fondsdepot Bank will send you a written confirmation that the custody account has been opened. Your employer will also receive a confirmation with all details needed for the transfer. The contract term begins when the first payment is received.

Before changing your employer, you can ask Fondsdepot Bank to send you relevant documents. The letter includes a part to return to Fondsdepot Bank and a part for your new HR department. In this letter to the employer, we explain how we keep these shares. The new employer pays into the existing CFB fund account under the existing CFB contract and can also make additional payments for the current calendar year.

Yes, you can leave the shares in the custody account and later expand it with additional fund positions.

After the end of your CFB contract, they will be transformed into "free fund shares". They will be kept in a fund account, and Fondsdepot Bank will charge the yearly custody account management fee according to the applicable schedule of fees and services.

All employees whose taxable income does not exceed a certain limit are eligible for the state grant for investment fund savings. The income limit is

€40,000 p.a. for single employees and
€80,000 p.a. for married employees/employees in registered partnerships.

Moreover, the capital formation benefits must flow into a fund that invests at least 60 percent of its assets in shares. Ask your personal asset advisor which funds would be suitable.

Since 2018, Fondsdepot Bank has been under the obligation to report the data from the CFB confirmation directly to the responsible tax authority.

This electronic notification always takes place in the first quarter of the new year. For this, we need to have your correct TIN by the notification date.

The employee savings allowance can no longer be applied for on paper. For this reason, the CFB confirmation is no longer sent out on paper.

To receive the employee savings allowance, electronic notification is mandatory. 

If you do not want to participate in the electronic procedure, you can object to the automatic forwarding of data to the revenue office. To do so, please send us a written order bearing your signature. However, please note that if you object to the electronic procedure, the revenue office will not be able to grant the employee savings allowance.

To retroactively agree to the forwarding of data for your CFB contract or withdraw your objection, you need to send Fondsdepot Bank a signed informal order indicating this.