In September 2002 Deutsche Börse pulled the plug on the Neuer Markt, Germany's growth segment, launched in 1997. It had become synonymous with the technology sector's boom and bust and was plagued by dwindling investor confidence and accounting scandals as it lost more than 90% from the peak of its valuation.

However, a Deutsche Börse spokeswoman denies the Neuer Markt had failed. She says: "It succeeded in introducing an equity culture and transparency standards to the German market. The idea was to offer younger companies access to capital markets. Before Neuer Markt, the average age of a company listing was 55 years."