Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands

The Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands, commonly known as VÖB and rendered in English as the Association of German Public Banks, is a national banking-industry association representing a substantial part of Germany’s public banking sector. Its membership includes federal and state-owned development banks, Landesbanks, selected non-retail institutions within the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, and other public-sector or public-interest financial institutions. Local retail savings banks, known in Germany as Sparkassen, are generally outside the association’s ordinary membership, although some related institutions may participate as extraordinary members. The organization traces its origins to the Verband deutscher öffentlich-rechtlicher Kreditanstalten, established in Berlin in 1916. It adopted the name Verband Öffentlicher Banken in 1974 and is now identified by the VÖB name. Across its membership, the association provides a common institutional voice for banks whose mandates often combine commercial banking with public policy objectives, including regional development, infrastructure finance, municipal lending, export finance, agricultural finance, housing, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises. VÖB’s ordinary members include KfW and KfW IPEX-Bank, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, and development institutions associated with Germany’s 16 federal states. It also includes major Landesbanks and other institutions connected with the public banking pillar of the German financial system, such as BayernLB, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Norddeutsche Landesbank, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, Landesbank Saar, and DekaBank. The membership also covers a number of specialized or regionally rooted banks, including Deutsche Kreditbank and other institutions with distinctive public, cooperative, or regional relationships. The association represents member interests in German and European banking-policy discussions. It participates in the European Banking Federation alongside the Bundesverband deutscher Banken, giving Germany more than one institutional representative in that European industry body. VÖB is also associated with the European Association of Public Banks. Its work includes policy representation, technical consultation, coordination among member institutions, public communication, and support for regulatory and operational issues affecting public banks. A distinctive feature of VÖB is its role as an employer association. Through the Tarifgemeinschaft Öffentlicher Banken, it conducts collective-bargaining functions for participating member institutions. The public-sector banks covered by this arrangement employed approximately 60,000 people in the 2022 financial year, according to the referenced account. This employer role differentiates VÖB from many other German banking associations, whose activities are principally focused on policy representation and industry coordination. The member institutions collectively occupy an important position in Germany’s banking market. The referenced material reports aggregate member assets of approximately €3.029 trillion and describes the membership as covering about one quarter of the German banking market. Ordinary members are described as having a leading position in local-authority finance, with a 59 percent market share, and as providing about 22 percent of corporate lending in Germany. Federal and state development banks provided €72 billion in new development and promotional loans in 2022. These figures describe the member institutions collectively rather than VÖB as a bank or balance-sheet-owning operating company. VÖB has also been involved in the institutional framework for deposit protection. Its former mandatory deposit-insurance entity, the Entschädigungseinrichtung des Bundesverbandes Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands GmbH, was phased out as the regulatory treatment of regional development banks changed and institutions moved into other statutory or group-based arrangements. The association retains a residual voluntary protection structure, the Einlagensicherungsfonds des Bundesverbandes Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands e. V., whose membership is limited to a small number of institutions. VÖB is therefore best understood not as a consumer-facing bank, but as a representative, bargaining, coordination, and sector-infrastructure organization for Germany’s public banking pillar.

The association originated in Berlin in 1916 as the Verband deutscher öffentlich-rechtlicher Kreditanstalten, an organization for German public-law credit institutions. Its founding reflected the importance of publicly backed and legally distinct financial institutions in Germany’s banking system. These institutions historically served public authorities, regional economies, agriculture, infrastructure, enterprises, and other policy-related financing needs alongside conventional banking activities. In 1974, the organization changed its name to Verband Öffentlicher Banken. The renaming reflected a broader and more recognizable public-bank identity as Germany’s financial system developed. Over time, the association became a central representative body for the public banking pillar, while local savings banks remained institutionally associated with the wider savings-bank system rather than becoming ordinary VÖB members. The modern VÖB represents a diverse membership. It includes KfW, the federal development bank, KfW IPEX-Bank, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, and development banks belonging to each of Germany’s 16 Länder. It also includes major Landesbanks and selected non-retail institutions linked to the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, as well as specialized banks with regional or institutional affiliations. Extraordinary members have included additional savings-bank organizations, Landesbausparkassen, cooperative institutions, stock exchanges, Swiss cantonal banks, and other bodies connected with financial or public-sector activity. The association’s functions extend beyond public advocacy. It is the only German banking association described in the reference material as exercising the functions of an employer association for its members. Its Tarifgemeinschaft Öffentlicher Banken conducts collective bargaining for participating public-sector banks. In the 2022 financial year, the institutions covered by this arrangement employed approximately 60,000 people. VÖB also operates at European level. It belongs to the European Banking Federation together with the Bundesverband deutscher Banken, making Germany unusual within the federation because it is represented by more than one national banking association. VÖB is also connected to the European Association of Public Banks. These relationships allow German public-bank interests to be presented in European discussions concerning banking regulation, development finance, public ownership, and financial-sector policy. Deposit protection has been another part of the association’s institutional history. Until September 2021, VÖB operated a mandatory deposit-insurance entity known as the VÖB EdÖ. Changes associated with the EU Capital Requirements Regulation reduced the relevance of that structure for regional development banks. Landesbanks and DekaBank participate in the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe’s deposit-insurance and institutional-protection arrangements, while several other VÖB institutions, including Deutsche Kreditbank, joined the statutory protection scheme operated by the Bundesverband deutscher Banken. VÖB continues to maintain a residual voluntary deposit-protection fund for a small group of eligible members. The association’s importance is primarily collective rather than commercial. It does not operate as a consumer bank, issue a conventional retail product range, or function as a listed financial company. Instead, it coordinates and represents institutions whose combined activities cover a significant portion of Germany’s banking market. The referenced material attributes approximately €3.029 trillion in aggregate assets to VÖB members, equal to about one quarter of the German banking market. It also identifies strong member positions in municipal finance and corporate lending. Through its policy, employer, and coordination roles, VÖB remains a key institutional voice for Germany’s public banking sector.

• 2025

  Thomas Groß became president

  [1]Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Groß succeeded Eckhard Forst as president of the association.

• 2022

  Member institutions provided €72 billion in new promotional loans

  [1]Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org

  Federal and state development banks belonging to VÖB provided €72 billion in new development and promotional loans during the year.

• 2021

  Mandatory deposit-insurance structure phased out

  [1]Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org

  The VÖB EdÖ mandatory deposit-insurance arrangement was largely phased out by the end of September following changes in the regulatory treatment of development banks.

• 1974

  Name changed to Verband Öffentlicher Banken

  [1]Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org

  The association adopted a shorter name reflecting its role as a representative body for public banks.

• 1916

  Association established in Berlin

  [1]Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was founded as the Verband deutscher öffentlich-rechtlicher Kreditanstalten to represent German public-law credit institutions.

A representative and coordinating institution for Germany’s public banking sector, combining banking-policy advocacy with collective bargaining and sector-infrastructure functions.

• Industry association service

  Membership and policy representation

  VÖB represents member banks in German and European policy discussions, including matters affecting public ownership, development finance, banking regulation, municipal finance, and the role of Landesbanks. The service is institutional rather than consumer-facing: members receive a collective voice, coordination, and sector representation rather than a banking account or credit product.

• Collective bargaining

  Tarifgemeinschaft Öffentlicher Banken

  The Public-Sector Banks’ Employer Association is VÖB’s collective-bargaining arm. It negotiates employment terms for participating member institutions and gives the association a role that distinguishes it from banking organizations focused solely on advocacy. The covered institutions represented approximately 60,000 employees in the 2022 financial year.

• Deposit protection

  VÖB voluntary deposit-protection fund

  The Einlagensicherungsfonds des Bundesverbandes Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands e. V. is the association’s residual voluntary deposit-protection arrangement. The referenced membership list comprises five institutions: Calenberger Kreditverein, Deutsche Kreditbank, Internationales Bankenhaus Bodensee, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, and Ritterschaftliches Kreditinstitut Stade.

• 2021

  Retained a residual voluntary deposit-protection fundStrategy

  Background

  Regulatory changes reduced the scope and relevance of the association’s former mandatory deposit-insurance structure, while different member groups moved into other statutory or group-based protection systems.

  Action taken

  The mandatory VÖB EdÖ arrangement was largely phased out, while VÖB retained a voluntary deposit-protection fund for a limited group of member institutions.

  Aftermath

  Landesbanks and DekaBank remained within the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe’s protection framework, and other relevant VÖB institutions joined the statutory scheme operated by the Bundesverband deutscher Banken.

  Source

1. 1Association of German Public Banksen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands official websitevoeb.de