Association of German Public Banks

The Association of German Public Banks VÖB is one of the five leading banking-sector associations. It represents 61 member banks, including the Landesbanken as well as the promotional banks owned by the federal government and the federal states. 14 of the 21 German banks directly supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB) are VÖB members. The VÖB works together with the other four major banking-sector associations on the German Banking Industry Committee (GBIC). It is based in Berlin.

The VÖB’s mandate is to promote the common business and general interests of its members in all banking matters, to foster cooperation between its member banks and to support them in performing their missions. The VÖB represents its members vis-à-vis federal government and federal state legislators, national and international supervisors, as well as the media and the public. The VÖB is an accredited lobbyist to the German Bundestag, the European Parliament and the European Commission. It has maintained an office in Brussels since 1987. In March 2012, the VÖB opened a European Banking Authority (EBA) liaison office in London. Since January 2014, it has also had a European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) liaison office in Paris. The VÖB is a member of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB) in Brussels.

The VÖB’s member banks have combined total assets of EUR 2,750 billion and hold  about one-third share of the German banking market (business year 2017). Through some 75,000 staff, the public banks meet their responsibility for SMEs, companies, the public sector and retail customers and are firmly rooted in their home regions in all parts of Germany. With a share of 50%, VÖB member banks are the market leader in municipal finance, while they also account for around 25% of all business loans in Germany.