Petition for SMEs: GBC AG demands more support from the government!

Petition for SMEs: GBC AG demands more support from the government!

On May 28, 2025, GBC AG announced a petition to strengthen capital market-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The initiative, which was launched by the association of capital market-oriented SMEs, aims to improve the framework conditions for listed medium-sized companies in Germany. Manuel Hölzle, CEO of GBC AG, emphasized the central role of these companies in innovation, employment and regional value creation.

The association presented this petition at the Equity Forum's spring conference, where around 100 participants were present. A flyer was distributed to communicate the contents and goals of the petition. Ingo Wegenich, founder of the interest group, was critical of the new coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD, which, in his opinion, contains too few concrete measures to promote capital market-oriented SMEs. In the coalition agreement, the word “stock exchange” is only mentioned once, in connection with animal protection, which indicates a neglect of the interests of listed medium-sized companies.

Key demands of the petition

The petition formulates four central demands that should serve as a basis for a rethinking of economic policy:

• Stärkung der Attraktivität für Investitionen in börsennotierte KMUs.
• Einführung einer aktienbasierten Altersvorsorge.
• Abbau bürokratischer Hürden.
• Stärkung Deutschlands als attraktiven Standort für Börsengänge.

The initiators of the petition see the need to increase the visibility of capital market-oriented SMEs and to improve the economic conditions for these companies. The petition can be submitted online at www.hauptmarkt-kmu.de/petition be supported.

Overall, those responsible hope that their demands will be included in the political agenda in order to make a positive contribution to strengthening the German medium-sized business landscape. For GBC AG and the association of capital market-oriented SMEs, one thing is clear: a change is necessary in order to secure the competitiveness and innovative strength of medium-sized companies in the long term. Further information on the contents of the petition can also be found in detail on the website Bond guide to find.