Deutsche Börse Group

Deutsche Börse Group is a major operator of German and European financial exchanges. This includes the top stock, commodities and derivatives exchanges, in addition to trading, clearing and post-trading platforms and services related to those businesses.

The entities and products managed by the group include the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Xetra, the Tradegate Exchange, Eurex, the European Energy Exchange (EEX), the 360T Foreign Exchange Platform, Eurex clearing, European Commodity Clearing (EEC), Clearstream, and major indices, including DAX and STOXX. In all, its exchanges include listings of more than one million tradable securities, and more than 11,000 companies with a total market capitalisation of €1.1 trillion.

History

The history of what is the modern-day Deutsche Börse Group dates back as far as the 12th century, with the organisation of the Autumn harvest fairs in Frankfurt, Germany. The fairs, which were eventually expanded to other seasons, grew in popularity and merchants from all over Europe traveled to Frankfurt in order to engage in trade.^[2]

Transactions at the fairs were recorded in writing as early as 1396. However, confusion surrounding means of payment and currencies from various origins led local authorities in 1585 to establish uniform exchange rates and organise what later became the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.^[2]

In 1666, officials published the first exchange rules and regulations. In 1694, traders moved their activities to the Großer Braunfels building, and thereafter trading began in promissory notes and bonds. In 1843, the exchange built its own headquarters at the Alte Börse, and it moved to a new headquarters, the Neue Börse, in 1879.^[2]

By 1956, following Germany's recovery from WWII, foreign equities began to trade on the exchange. Electronic trading then began in 1968, and by 1970, Börsen-daten-Zentrale GmbH (BdZ), a data center for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, was founded. BdZ was one of the precursors of Deutsche Börse Systems AG.^[2]

In 1987, the DAX Index of German equities was created. In 1990, Deutsche Terminbörse started trading futures and other derivatives, and in December 1991, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ("Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse AG") was renamed Deutsche Börse AG. The new company held all shares of both the DTB derivatives exchange and the German central securities depository (Deutscher Kassenverein).^[2]

In 1998, together with the Swiss Stock Exchange, Deutsche Börse merged the Soffex and dTB futures markets to form Eurex, a cross-border derivatives exchange. In 2000, Deutsche Börse Clearing AG merged with Cedel International S.A. to form Clearstream International S.A., a provider of settlement services for national and international securities transactions and custody of securities. In the same year, spot trading in electricity began at Deutsche Börse's European Energy Exchange AG (EEX).^[2]

In 2002, Deutsche Börse AG went public, and in March 2015, Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) agreed to a merger in a deal worth US$30 billion.^[2]

Top Companies Traded On The Frankfurt Exchange

The Dax Index, formulated in 1987, measures the performance of the 30 top companies traded on the Frankfurt Exchange of the Deutsche Börse. According to market capitalisation, the top companies listed on the exchange include: Volkswagen, Bayer, Daimler, Basf, Siemens, SAP, Deutsche Telekom, BMW, Allianz, Henkel, Deutsche Bank and Continental.^[3]

Listings On The Deutsche Börse

The exchanges operated by Deutsche Börse list more than 11,000 national and international companies. More than 1,400 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in addition to exchange-traded notes (ETNs) and exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) are traded on Deutsche Börse's electronic trading platform Xetra.

Also, 28,000 fixed-income securities like bonds, mortgage bonds and debentures, approximately 3,000 investment funds, and more than 1.3 million structured products including certificates and warrants are traded there. Separately, the London Stock Exchange lists more than 2,500 companies, with a total market capitalisation of more than £4 trillion.

Deutsche Börse In Europe And The World

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange of the Deutsche Börse Group is the 10th-largest in the world and the third-largest in Europe in terms of total market capitalisation of its listings. The London Stock Exchange is the fourth-largest in the world and the largest in Europe.

Shares of the Deutsche Börse Group are traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in OTC Markets. The London Stock Exchange Group is traded on its own exchange in London. In the wake of their merger, Deutsche Börse and the London Stock Exchange are to be grouped under the holding company UK TopCo, with headquarters in London and Frankfurt.^[4]

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