When the city of Frankfurt, the state of Hesse, and the federal government come together to advance finance hub Frankfurt, Germany's most important banking location, enormous opportunities for development are generated

Politicians and representatives from the finance industry met recently at an event hosted by Bankenverband Mitte, which represents around 100 private commercial banks in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland. The panel discussion was moderated by Sarah Schmidtke, Managing Director of Bankenverband Mitte.

Association Chairman Mario Mattera, who is a board member of Bankhaus Metzler, said that the decision for both the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Anti Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) to be located in Frankfurt was a confirmation of the city's central role in Europe's financial architecture. „What particularly pleases me is that politics and business pulled together to promote Frankfurt -w e need more of that," said Mattera. And he expressed hope for the advancement of Capital Markets Union by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Frankfurt's Mayor Mike Josef views the joint effort regarding AMLA as „a benchmark for future cooperation“. He described AMLA's establishment here as a major success that was anything but a foregone conclusion.

The decision taken two months ago by the EU Parliament and EU Council to choose the location of the agency – from a list of over a dozen European competitors – has been widely attributed to the well organised efforts of the federal government, the Hessian state government, and the city of Frankfurt.
This differed significantly from 2017, when Paris secured the relocation of the European Banking Authority in the wake of Brexit. At that time the perception was of a lack of interest and passivity among political decision-makers in Germany.

Umut Sönmez, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Economics, expressed his desire for the same success seen with AMLA when it comes to attracting operational business to Frankfurt. He noted that many things have passed Frankfurt by, to the benefit of Paris, Amsterdam, or Luxembourg. Sönmez emphasised the need for Germany to consolidate its strength into one financial center, akin to France and Britain with Paris and London. „Given our German mindset, we need to move away from fragmentation. Frankfurt is Germany's financial hub. Period,“ he said.

Sabine Mauderer, Executive Board Member of the Deutsche Bundesbank and designated Vice President, warned that after years of neglect by politicians following the financial crisis, Frankfurt's financial centre must receive more attention. „We need to understand what our country will be about in the coming years. It is clear that we need more growth. This is where the financial center is called upon," she said.

It is also important to make the population, and political decision-makers, aware of this. The networking between business, the finance hub, and politics, as happened in the case of AMLA, is essential. „Otherwise, everyone works for themselves, and the big picture is lost.“

Tobias Vogel, CEO of UBS Europe, based in Frankfurt, called for better financial market coordination between Frankfurt, Hesse, and the federal government. He argued that for the finance hub to fulfill its role in financing economic transformation such as sustainability or digitalisation, a financial market strategy is needed, which is currently not apparent in Germany.