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Lecture hall in Kassel (archive picture): The affected students can breathe a sigh of relief
Photo: DPA
Foreign students in Germany who have entrusted their money to the blocked account provider "BAM - Nationwide Asset Management" can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being: The financial supervisory authority Bafin has started processing the "unauthorized transactions" - and has already made the first partial payments to the students concerned.
"This procedure normally takes much longer," a Bafin spokeswoman told SPIEGEL.
"But in this case it is particularly important to help the students quickly and unbureaucratically." According to Bafin, around 500 students from all over the world are affected.
more on the subject
Foreign students can't get their money: »I never thought that something like this could happen to me here« By Miriam Olbrisch
861 euros for each month
If you come from a non-EU country and want to study in Germany, you have to deposit a large amount of money in a blocked account in Germany, unless you can provide evidence of other sources of income in Germany, such as a scholarship. Prospective students have to raise at least 861 euros for each month they want to stay in Germany. The legislature wants to prevent that the students could be on the taxpayer's pocket during their stay. From this blocked account, money is usually paid out to the students on a monthly basis.
As SPIEGEL reported, hundreds of customers of the blocked account provider "BAM - Nationwide Asset Management UG (limited liability)" had not received any payments of their assets since the end of June.
Quite a few are dependent on this money and have had difficulties paying their rent, health insurance contributions or bills.
Quite a few had to borrow money from family or friends.
"Unauthorized deposit business"
As it turned out, the BAM had carried out the so-called deposit business without permission.
The company acts as an intermediary between the students and Aareal Bank in Wiesbaden.
The student funds were deposited there.
However, the BAM did not open the accounts in the name of the students, "rather, the company collected the funds in its own account," as a statement by the Bafin said.
BAM did not have the necessary permission for this.
The financial supervisory authority therefore ordered the immediate cessation of business.
It is not yet clear when and how the students will get the money they have paid in.
The Bafin has currently only instructed partial payments to help those affected in the acute situation, said the spokeswoman.
Foreign Office remote provider of website
The Foreign Office had listed the provider together with others, such as Deutsche Bank, on its website.
It was through this that the majority of the applicants first became aware of BAM.
In the meantime, the Federal Foreign Office has removed the reference to BAM and written a kind of disclaimer: "Please note that naming the blocked account providers on the Federal Foreign Office's website is not a recommendation," it says on the page.
"For reasons of competition, it can only be named there which service providers who offer blocked accounts are known to the Federal Foreign Office."