The Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV, ) is the association of German
savings bank
A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...
s () and the apex entity of the
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe
The ''Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe'' ("Savings Banks Financial Group") is a network of public banks that together form the largest financial services group in Germany and Europe by assets. Its name refers to local government-controlled savings banks ...
, the European Union's second-largest financial services group (after
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...
) with 2.5 trillion euros combined assets as of end-2023. Germany's savings banks, owned by local governments, play a major role in the country's economy, together operating some 15,860 branches and employing about 284,800 people.
History
German savings banks started organizing on a regional basis in the 1870s and early 1880s, e.g. the , est. 1881. The first national conference of savings banks () was held in 1882. on , the first national umbrella organization was established as the in
Dortmund
Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
.
In 1892, it was agreed that the would be an "association of associations" whose members would not be individual savings banks, but rather regional associations thereof (). By 1911, fifteen such had been established, covering all the country's savings banks.
on during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the was established to coordinate the regional payments clearing houses or () that had appeared since 1908.
The DSGV was founded in 1924 by the merger of and , with seat in Berlin. It simultaneously absorbed the , a separate organization in
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
.
In 1947, after ''de facto'' separation from their Eastern German peers and central organization in
East Berlin
East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...
, the savings banks and regional associations in
West Germany
West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
formed the () as their new national organization. In 1953, it was restructured as the , with head office in
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
.
[ Unlike the prior DSGV in Berlin, it was not a public corporation (, abbreviated as ö.K.) but a non-profit association (, abbreviated e.V.).
Following ]German reunification
German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
, the DSGV relocated from Bonn to Berlin in 1999.[
In April 2011, DSGV took control of ]DekaBank
DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale is the central provider of asset management and capital market solutions of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, a network of public banks that together form the largest financial services group in Germany and in all of Eu ...
, buying a 50% stake from the Landesbanken, public sector banks such as HSH Nordbank
Hamburg Commercial Bank (formerly HSH Nordbank) is a commercial bank in northern Europe with headquarters in Hamburg as well as Kiel, Germany. It is active in corporate and private banking. Considered to be the world’s largest provider of maritim ...
, WestLB
Westdeutsche Landesbank (, abbreviated as WestLB) was a major German bank based in Düsseldorf, mainly controlled by the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was created in 1969 by the merger of two predecessor entities respectively for th ...
and that stumbled badly during the 2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. After years of subsidising the activities of the Landesbank sector, savings banks have been more assertive about ending the Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
-style ambitions of some of these regional lenders.[Edward Taylor, Philipp Halstrick and Kathrin Jones (April 2, 2012)]
Germany's DekaBank fires CEO after spat over bonus
''Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
''.
Presidents
* (1924-1935)
* (1935-1945)
* (1947-1967)
* (1967-1972)
* (1972-1993)
* Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...
(1993-1998)
* (1998-2006)
* (2006-2012)
* Georg Fahrenschon (2012-2017)
* (since 2018)
See also
* Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken
The National Association of German Cooperative Banks (, BVR) is the umbrella association for the German Cooperative Financial Group. Its origins go back to 1864 as . As of 2015 it had 1,021 members, which represents all the cooperative banks i ...
* German public banking sector
The German public banking sector () represents a significant share of the broader banking sector in Germany. Unlike in most other Western and Central European countries, German public-sector banks have been present since the early phases of formal ...
References
External links
Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband
*
{{Authority control
Banks of Germany
Banking organizations
Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe