On March 1, 2017, the new Scale segment was introduced on the German Stock Exchange. It replaces Entry Standard, which had been in place since 2005 but had fallen into disrepute recently. There had been a number of irregularities of late, especially in the field of mid-tier bonds. These include losses of up to 20% as in the case of the German wooden pellet producer, German Pellets. Low transparency requirements appeared to be to blame for such irregularities and this new standard aims to strengthen investors’ confidence in the Open Market.