The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm ( German time).

Organisation

Located in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is owned and operated by

Deutsche Börse AG Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

and Börse Frankfurt Zertifikate AG. It is located in the district of Innenstadt and within the central business district known as

Bankenviertel Bankenviertel (; ''banking quarter'') is the name of the central business district in Frankfurt, Germany where many banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions are located. It is the most important German financial hub, if not o ...

. With 90 percent of its turnover generated in Germany, namely at the two trading venues Xetra and Börse Frankfurt, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the largest of the seven regional securities exchanges in Germany. The trading indices are

DAX The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...

, DAXplus, CDAX, DivDAX, LDAX,

MDAX The MDAX is a stock index which lists German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The index is calculated by . It includes the 50 Prime Standard shares that rank in size immediately below the companies included in the DAX index. T ...

SDAX The SDAX (German abbreviation for ''Small-Cap-deutsche Aktienindex'') is a stock market index composed of 70 small and medium-sized companies in Germany. These so-called 'Small cap company, small caps' rank directly below the MDAX (mid-cap) shar ...

TecDAX The TecDAX stock index tracks the performance of the 30 largest German companies from the technology sector. In terms of order book turnover and market capitalization the companies rank below those included in the DAX. The TecDax was introduced ...

VDAX The VDAX-NEW Index expresses the variation margin – the implied volatility – of the DAX anticipated on the derivatives market. The VDAX indicates in percentage points the volatility to be expected in the next 30 days for the DAX. The basis for ...

and EuroStoxx 50.

Trading venues Xetra and Börse Frankfurt

Through its Cash Market business section,

now operates two trading venues at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. * Xetra is the reference market for exchange trading in German equities and exchange traded funds. In 2015, 90 per cent of all trading in shares at all German exchanges was transacted through the Xetra. With regard to

listings, Xetra has 60 per cent market share throughout Europe.^{/sup> Trading times on trading days are from 9.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.^{/sup> The prices on Xetra serve as the basis for calculating the DAX

The DAX (''Deutscher Aktienindex'' (German stock index); ) is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra t ...
, the best-known German share index. Over 200 trading participants from 16 European countries, plus Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
, are connected via Xetra servers in Frankfurt/Main

Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
.^{/sup>
* Börse Frankfurt is the trading venue for mainly private investors with more than one million securities of German and international issuers. So-called "specialists" on the trading floor attend to the trading of the securities.

Market surveillance and protective mechanisms

Trading at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is governed by clear rules, which apply equally for all trading participants. Independent market surveillance is made up of the Trading Surveillance Office (HÜSt), the Exchange Supervisory Authority attached to the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transportation, and Regional Development, and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).^{Xetra (trading system)

Xetra (Market Identifier Code: XETR) is a trading venue operated by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange based in Frankfurt, Germany.

In 2015, 90 percent of all trading in shares at all Germany, German exchanges was transacted through the Xetra trading v ...}

With a view to improving the continuity of prices and to avoid mistrades, several protective mechanisms are in place for the trading venues Xetra and Börse Frankfurt

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (, former German name: , ''FWB'') is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm (Time in Germany, German time).
Organisation
Locat ...
. These include volatility interruption, market order interruption, and liquidity interruption measures.^{Xetra (trading system)

Xetra (Market Identifier Code: XETR) is a trading venue operated by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange based in Frankfurt, Germany.

In 2015, 90 percent of all trading in shares at all Germany, German exchanges was transacted through the Xetra trading v ...}

History

The origins of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange go back to medieval trade fairs in the 11th century. By the 16th century Frankfurt developed into a wealthy and busy city with an economy based on trade and financial services.

In 1585 a bourse was established to set up fixed currency exchange rates

In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
, which is considered to mark the 'birth' of the stock exchange. During the following centuries Frankfurt developed into one of the world's first stock exchanges – next to Amsterdam

Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, London

London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and Paris

Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. Bankers like Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Mayer Amschel Rothschild (23 February 1744 – 19 September 1812; also spelled ''Anschel'') was a German-Jewish banker and the founder of the Rothschild family, Rothschild banking dynasty. Referred to as a "founding father of international fin ...
and Max Warburg

Max Moritz Warburg (5 June 1867 – 26 December 1946) was a German banker and scion of the wealthy Warburg family based in Hamburg, Germany.
Early life
Max Warburg was one of seven children born to Moritz Warburg, the director of the family's Ha ...
had substantial influence on Frankfurt's financial trade.

In 1879 Frankfurt Stock Exchange moved into its new building at Börsenplatz. During the final third of the 19th century, Frankfurt was a major financial center in the Atlantic world.

It was only in 1949 after World War II

World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
that the Frankfurt Stock Exchange finally established as the leading stock exchange

A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...
in Germany with consequently incoming national and international investments.

During the 1990s the Frankfurt Stock Exchange was also bourse for the Neuer Markt Neuer may refer to:

* Neuer (surname)
Organizations
* Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen
* Neuer Botanischer Garten Marburg, Marburg
* Neuer Botanischer Garten Tübingen, Tübingen
Places
* Neuer Dom, Linz Cathedr ...
(New Market) as part of the worldwide dot-com boom.

In 1993 the ''Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse'' (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) became Deutsche Börse AG, operating businesses for the exchange.

From the early 1960s onwards the Frankfurt Stock Exchange took advantage of the close by Bundesbank

The Deutsche Bundesbank (, , colloquially Buba, sometimes alternatively abbreviated as BBk or DBB) is the national central bank for Germany within the Eurosystem. It was the German central bank from 1957 to 1998, issuing the Deutsche Mark (DM). ...
which effectively decided on financial policies in Europe until the introduction of the euro

The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
in 2002. Since then the exchange profits from the presence of the European Central Bank

The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...
in Frankfurt.

In 2002 and 2004 was in advanced negotiations to take over London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
, which were broken off in 2005. A further merger bid was blocked by the European Commission in 2017.

References

Further reading

Financial Market Integration in a Wider European UnionInternational financial centres: rivals or partner?Assessment on Frankfurt's failed take-over of LSE

External links

Deutsche Börse Cash Market – Organisation of the FWBWebsite of trading venue XetraWebsite of trading venue Börse Frankfurt

Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), Brussels

*

{{Authority control

Financial services companies established in the 16th century
Stock exchanges in Germany
Economy of Frankfurt
Companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
1585 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Tourist attractions in Frankfurt
Frankfurt-Altstadt
Deutsche Börse}}}