Frankfurt Main Finance (FMF)

As both the European Central Bank and the German Federal Bank are located at Frankfurt, the Financial Centre is highly important for national and international monetary and currency policy. It is not only the geographically at the heart of the European financial sector – it is where financial stability in  Europe arises from and a crucial criterion for companies looking to locate to continental Europe. Further European and German authorities like the European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority EIOPA, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin, the European Systemic Risk Board ESRB, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation GLEIF, and the Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation FMSA make Frankfurt the EU regulatory hub for financial services.

By 2020 the Financial Centre Frankfurt aims at being the leading FinTech hub in continental Europe.

Financial services technology companies, also known as FinTechs, are a major trend in the finance sector. Across the globe, start-ups are on their way to digitalize (and some to revolutionize) the finance industry – making it more efficient and customer-oriented.

The proximity to the established banks that Frankfurt has to offer is advantageous for young start-ups. Moreover, the City of Frankfurt and the State of Hesse are very engaged in promoting Frankfurt’s FinTech scene. The Financial Centre Frankfurt offers young FinTechs attractive working and living conditions.

Every year the Financial Centre Frankfurt honors outstanding FinTech companies in various categories with a leading investor-driven start-up award. The renowned prize for entrepreneurs awards the most promising FinTech, InsurTech, and RegTech companies from the following categories: Seed-/Early Stage, Late Stage, Growth Stage and Foreign New Entrant to Germany.

Frankfurt am Main ranks 7th in Mercer’s Quality of Living Rankings 2019 – Germany is much more than a prosperous business location.

Germany offer diverse and high quality of live. Visitors and locals alike enjoy the coastal landscape in northern Germany and the Alps in the south. There are also cultural and scenic treasures to be discovered (with the whole family) between the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Alps.

Especially the rich nature parks and biosphere reserves attract numerous visitors every year – and so does the Financial Centre Frankfurt: with 3,866 ha, the Frankfurt City Forest is one of the largest city forests in Germany. It is part of Frankfurt’s Green Belt, which is Frankfurt's most important local recreation area comprising of about 80 square kilometers.

Germany is a “Foodie” place to be: a total of 300 restaurants that have been awarded at least one Michelin star in Germany - 11 of which received 3 stars; putting Germany in 3rd place of the European ranking! You can enjoy a total of 9 different Michelin star restaurants in the Financial Centre Frankfurt, ranging from modern and creative cooks to traditional and international dishes. These are only a few facts making up the quality of life in Germany. Further information about Frankfurt’s quality of life can be found here: frankfurt-main-finance.com.

Frankfurt Airport connects Europe: 94 airlines serving more than 300 destinations in than 98 countries. Frankfurt is the 3rd busiest airport in Europe and the 12th in the world. You can reach nearly every European capital in just two hours – about 168 passenger board planes connecting Frankfurt and London.

The Financial Centre Frankfurt also connects Europe digitally as the European Centre for data traffic: DE-CIX - German Commercial Internet Exchange – is the world’s largest data exchange hub, processing up to 6.4 terabits of data per second. Over 750 customers from 52 countries are connected over the data hub.

With more than 400.000 square meters of data center space, the Frankfurt metropolitan area is the perfect location for digital business models.

More than 200 foreign banks are located in Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region – Germany‘s economic powerhouse. About 6 million people live in the Frankfurt metropolitan area (Frankfurt Rhine-Main).

Frankfurt Rhine-Main is a cluster region with a strong network of companies from diverse industries:

The Frankfurt Rhine-Main academic region also bears witness to an export hit. In the Rhine-Main region, an academic network of finance has developed that is probably the most consolidated in the world. Companies appreciate a large number of well-trained employees. The practice orientation of university education in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main Region is based on a close and permanent exchange between industry and academia.