DZ Bank

DZ Bank (Deutsche Zentralgenossenschaftbank – “German Central Cooperative Bank”), is an internationally oriented corporate bank based in Frankfurt, the fifth largest in Germany. The body serves as the central of about 1200 local cooperative banks. DZ Bank has more than 125 years of experience in business and has established a solid reputation in Germany and other countries. Its net income for 2008 was $1.487 million. The bank currently has 24210 employees, and the total number of customers is about 30 million. DZ Bank is currently headed by Rolf Hildner (chairman of supervisory board), Wolfgang Kirsch (CEO), and Albrecht Merz (managing director).

Services offered by DZ Bank fall into three primary categories – structured finance, investment banking, and research. They include corporate and retail banking, asset management, investments in real estate, home savings, loan and mortgage lending, as well as health, life, and motor insurance services (including secure retirement provision). The bank conceives and develops services and products for numerous clients, among which banks, corporations, and even foreign governments.

The company provides loans for the small and midsized business through its partnership with local cooperative banks. The body also provides acquisition, project, international, and export finance, as well as loan syndication, foreign exchange, credit risk calculation, hedging, treasury, asset securitization, and online trading services.

In the field of investment banking, DZ Bank is focused on private-customer-oriented fixed income securities. Their International division offers a global hub for the primary banks and their clients. In view of transaction banking, the body offers relevant products and transaction services to local cooperative banks at home and throughout Europe.

DZ Bank maintains numerous branches and representative offices in key financial centers throughout the world. This network is supplemented by cooperation agreements with partner banks and a system of correspondent banks around the globe.

The bank aims at positioning the cooperative banking sector at a leading position as an economic segment in Germany. To attain this goal, DZ Bank concentrates on three initiatives on the market. First, they aim to strengthen the market potential for the corporate business and local cooperative banks. Second, they would take advantage of the market potential in private banking to create a private banking subsidiary. Third, DZ Bank would start realizing large scale economies in transaction banking through the intensification of services distribution.

Commercial Banks Guide > DZ Bank