Deutsche Bundesbank
The Deutsche Bundesbank is Germany's independent central bank. The Bundesbank forms part of the Eurosystem and shares responsibility for the euro with the European Central Bank and the other euro-area national central banks. Monetary policy aims to keep prices stable and protect the euro's purchasing power.
The Bundesbank implements common monetary-policy decisions in Germany and monitors banks with BaFin, Germany's financial supervisor. The Bundesbank also supplies banknotes and coins and provides services for transferring money between banks. These functions support the payment and banking services that households and businesses use every day.
An independent central bank in the Eurosystem
The Bundesbank is an independent national central bank. The Bundesbank takes no instructions from the Federal Government when performing its central-bank responsibilities. An Executive Board leads the institution.
The Bundesbank has formed part of the Eurosystem since 1999. Its President participates in the ECB Governing Council, where common monetary policy is decided. The Bundesbank remains a separate institution and carries out its own national responsibilities alongside that European role.
What the Bundesbank does
The work of the Bundesbank covers monetary policy and financial stability, with additional responsibilities for banking supervision, cash and payment systems. Common monetary-policy decisions are made by the ECB Governing Council. The Bundesbank implements those decisions in Germany, including monetary-policy operations with banks.
The Bundesbank also manages Germany's foreign reserves and compiles financial statistics. The payment-systems function provides settlement and clearing services and supports the European payment system. TARGET Services connect payment and securities settlement in central bank money.
The Bundesbank participates in preparation for the digital euro. The project remains distinct from existing payment services. The issuance decision depends on the legislative framework; a prototype or pilot does not establish that the digital euro has been introduced.
Bank supervision with BaFin
In Germany the Bundesbank and BaFin share banking supervision. The Bundesbank carries out the ongoing monitoring of credit institutions: it assesses their capital and liquidity and conducts on-site inspections. BaFin takes the supervisory decisions. For the significant banks, Bundesbank staff work in the Joint Supervisory Teams of ECB Banking Supervision, and the Bundesbank is represented on the ECB Supervisory Board.
DLT settlement and the trigger solution
In the exploratory work of the Eurosystem on settling DLT transactions in central bank money, three national central banks offered solutions, and the Bundesbank built one of them, the trigger solution. The Bundesbank trigger solution connects a market ledger to T2, so that the security moves on the ledger and the payment runs as a normal T2 payment. The page on wholesale CBDC compares the three designs and explains Pontes, the follow-up from the ECB for linking DLT platforms to the TARGET Services.
Upcoming finance events in Frankfurt
Where Bundesbank experts meet the market
The Frankfurt Quantum Finance Forum is organized by Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in collaboration with the Deutsche Bundesbank, IBM, Finance Loop and Finteda. The Frankfurt Quantum Finance Forum covers quantum computing in finance, from portfolio optimization to the risk quantum computers pose to today's cryptography.
At Capital & Code in Frankfurt, where Finance Loop is a media partner, the first panels belong to the Deutsche Bundesbank. The Frankfurt Forum on Digital Assets & Applications brings people from banks, exchanges and the Bundesbank together on DLT-based securities and money, and the TUM Blockchain Conference 2026 in Munich lists a Bundesbank speaker as well.
What does the Deutsche Bundesbank do?
The Deutsche Bundesbank carries out the monetary policy of the Eurosystem in Germany, supervises banks together with BaFin, supplies cash, runs payment operations and works on the stability of the financial system. The Deutsche Bundesbank also manages Germany's foreign reserves and acts as fiscal agent for the federal government.
Is the Bundesbank part of the ECB?
The Bundesbank is a separate central bank within the Eurosystem. The Bundesbank, the ECB and the other national central banks of the euro area together form the Eurosystem. The Bundesbank President votes in the ECB Governing Council under the rotation of voting rights.
Does the Bundesbank supervise banks?
Yes, together with BaFin. The Bundesbank monitors banks, analyzes their reports and carries out on-site inspections, and BaFin takes the supervisory decisions. For significant banks, both work inside ECB Banking Supervision.
Where is the Bundesbank based?
The central office of the Bundesbank is in Frankfurt am Main. The Bundesbank also has regional offices and branches across Germany, for example in Hamburg, Munich and Berlin.
Deutsche Bundesbank and Finance Loop
Employees of Deutsche Bundesbank regularly attend Finance Loop events.
Finance Loop is a partner of the Frankfurt Quantum Finance Forum, which Frankfurt School organizes with the Deutsche Bundesbank and IBM, and a media partner of Capital & Code, where the Bundesbank opens the program. Finance Loop covers the work of the Bundesbank on DLT settlement and the digital euro in its Payments & Digital Money track.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.