FINANCIAL SECTOR

As the EU's number one financial centre, Frankfurt am Main is an ideal lab for fintechs. In the B2B sector especially, Frankfurt is unrivalled thanks to a high density of banks and its position as a continental European financial centre with over 170 foreign banks and its concentration of market regulators. With TechQuartier as a driver of innovation and the state of Hesse's ecosystem manager, this is the heart of the tech scene. The seeds of sustainable growth and the green transformation are being sown in this area, surrounded by several universities and centres of excellence such as Frankfurt School's Blockchain Lab and projects in the fields of AI, blockchain, safe FBDC and sustainability.

Would you like to be part of it? Feel free to contact us, we would be happy to get you up to speed and to provide you with information about fintechs and Frankfurt's start-up community.

As the seat of the European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt am Main is the city of the euro. This is where monetary policy decisions are taken for the euro zone and by extension for around 337 million people. Many central banks and state-owned banks from all over the world have their representative offices for Germany or Europe here.

The European Systemic Risk Board, Deutsche Bundesbank, Bafin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), the Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation and the European insurance regulator EIOPA are also headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the European banking supervisory authority for the 120 or so systemically important banks in the euro zone, has also been attached to the ECB since 2014. A number of state banks from abroad also have representative offices in Frankfurt. These include the People's Bank of China, the Bank of Japan, the Turkish central bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Frankfurt am Main is one of the most important locations for regulatory oversight in Europe. The regulatory and supervisory authorities based here exert a major influence on financial activity in the entire euro zone. With its cosmopolitan flair and significance as a financial centre, Frankfurt am Main is the capital of the European Monetary Union and is one of the key locations where the process of European integration is strongly promoted.

It is not just banks, but also around 40 investment companies and just under 90 financial service providers that make Frankfurt the number one financial centre in Germany. Many of these companies operate around the world, while others specialise in the European or German market. The most well-known of these include Deutsche Asset Management, DEKA Group, UBS Global Asset Management, Allianz Global Investors and Nomura Asset Management.

The Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management e.V. (BVI) is also based in Frankfurt, and the GERMAN PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL ASSOCIATION (BVK) regularly hosts events in the city.

Together with New York, London and Tokyo, Deutsche Börse AG is one of the world's largest stock exchanges. Eurex, a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, is one of the four largest derivatives exchanges in the world. The Group's main strengths include the Xetra electronic trading system, which is one of the most modern and efficient of its kind and is used by many other trading centres. In addition, an increasing number of the world's leading stock exchanges are replicating Frankfurt's integrated business model: With its clearing houses, Deutsche Börse offers trading, settlement and safe custody of securities from a single source.

The insurance sector is represented by leading German companies such as R+V, Alte Leipziger and Allianz. Added to these are foreign insurers such as Helvetia and the Zurich Group. The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) is a EU financial market regulator based in Frankfurt am Main. Its main focus is on ensuring the stability of the financial system, market transparency and financial products. EIOPA monitors and identifies trends, potential threats and vulnerabilities across borders and sectors.