BaFin, Germany's financial supervisor
BaFin is the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, Germany's supervisor for banks, insurers, payment and e-money institutions, investment firms, fund managers, securities trading and crypto-asset service providers. It has two seats, Bonn and Frankfurt am Main, and the firms it supervises pay for it through fees and levies.
Three supervisors merged into one
BaFin was formed on May 1, 2002 from three federal offices: the one for banking supervision, the one for insurance supervision and the one for securities trading. It is an independent federal institution under public law and reports to the Federal Ministry of Finance. The Wikipedia article on BaFin gives 2,996 employees at the end of 2024 and roughly 2,700 banks, 800 financial services institutions and more than 700 insurers under supervision.
The Wirecard collapse exposed gaps in its work. Reforms in 2022 gave BaFin more independence and narrowed its reporting duties to the ministry.
How BaFin shares supervision with EU bodies
For the significant banks, the ECB is the supervisor and BaFin works in the joint teams of ECB Banking Supervision. The less significant banks, which in Germany are most of them by number, BaFin supervises with the Deutsche Bundesbank. Insurers stay with BaFin, while EIOPA in Frankfurt sets common EU standards for insurance supervision.
Anti-money laundering supervision is changing: AMLA in Frankfurt will supervise a selected group of large cross-border firms directly, and BaFin remains the AML supervisor for everyone else.
Licenses for payment, fintech and crypto firms
A payment or e-money institution needs a BaFin license under the Payment Services Supervision Act, described on payments regulation in Germany. A crypto-asset service provider needs authorization under MiCA, and BaFin is the competent authority in Germany; MiCA in Germany and the CASP license page explain the process. Banks, insurers, payment firms and crypto providers also fall under DORA, the EU law on digital operational resilience, covered on DORA in Germany.
To check whether a firm holds a German license, BaFin runs a public company database with the institutions it supervises and their permissions.
Upcoming compliance and regulation events in Frankfurt
Where BaFin topics meet practice
Licensing, MiCA, DORA and AI rules come up at Finance Loop events in Frankfurt, where compliance officers, lawyers and the product teams of banks, payment firms and crypto providers meet. The pages on compliance in Frankfurt and crypto regulation in Germany cover these groups and rules.
At Frankfurt Digital Finance, a conference Finance Loop has partnered with, the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank and BaFin are all based in the host city, so speakers from the regulators have a short way to the stage.
What does BaFin do?
BaFin licenses and supervises banks, financial services institutions, insurers, payment and e-money institutions, fund managers and crypto-asset service providers in Germany, and it supervises securities trading, including insider trading and market manipulation. Its aim is a stable financial system and the protection of customers and investors.
Where is BaFin located?
BaFin has two seats, Bonn and Frankfurt am Main.
How can I check if a company is licensed by BaFin?
Search the BaFin company database by name. It lists every institution BaFin supervises with the permissions it holds. A firm that is not in it, and not passported from another EU country, has no German license.
Does BaFin supervise crypto companies?
Yes. Crypto-asset service providers in Germany need authorization under MiCA, and BaFin grants and supervises it. Firms offering crypto custody needed a BaFin license under the German Banking Act even before MiCA applied.
BaFin and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers the rules BaFin applies, from MiCA licenses to DORA and payments law, in its Risk & Compliance track. Finance Loop events in Frankfurt bring together the compliance, legal and product teams who prepare license applications and answer supervisors.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the adoption of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.