The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) acts as the supreme federal authority and financial supervisor for all service companies in the German financial sector. It is part of the portfolio of the Federal Minister of Finance and is based in Bonn and Frankfurt/Main.
As the competent supervisory authority, BaFin supervises transactions and business processes within the financial markets. It supervises almost 2,400 banks and financial institutions as well as almost 90 German branches of foreign credit institutions in the European Economic Area. In addition, there are more than 500 insurance companies, 30 pension funds, over 400 capital management companies and 6,300 domestic fund providers. The BaFin was created in 2002 by merging the Federal Banking Supervisory Office with the Federal Supervisory Office for Securities Trading and the Federal Insurance Supervisory Office. The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority takes over the business areas of the three former supervisory offices. All banks, insurance companies, fund providers, other investment companies and financial service providers are therefore under the supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.