[Last updated: 1 February 2026, unless otherwise noted]

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (more commonly referred to as the FSE) is the largest German Exchange with the deepest market. Most German companies maintain their primary listing on this exchange. The FSE attracts around 90% of the turnover in the German market and also has a significant share in the European market. Mainly through its electronic trading system XETRA®, the FSE is open to foreign investors and market participants.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is operated by Deutsche Börse AG (DBAG), which is itself a public company whose shares are listed on the FSE. It pursues an integrated market model. In particular, Clearstream Banking AG, a subsidiary of DBAG, acts as the sole German central custodian and is responsible for the settlement of all trades transacted on the FSE and the other German exchanges. DBAG also operates EUREX, the largest German derivatives exchange and holds a participation in Tradegate, a securities exchange specializing in retail investors. DBAG holds a majority stake in EEX AG, which operates the EEX (European Energy Exchange), the leading European exchange for energy and a number of other energy markets across the globe. Finally, DBAG also owns 360T a trading platform for foreign exchange.

All trading is electronic trading via its XETRA® trading platform where orders are matched automatically. A "specialist" model for small and midcap issuers still allows some human interference before a transaction is executed. It is possible to participate in the trading via remote membership, and about 50% of the approximately 200 market participants are from countries other than Germany.

The FSE has three market segments for a primary listing of shares:

Link to Table

A key difference in market segments is the distinction between EU-regulated markets and markets that are regulated by the stock exchanges themselves (regulated unofficial markets). On the FSE, companies that are listed on the EU-regulated market are admitted to the General Standard or to the Prime Standard, a segment with even higher transparency requirements. Membership in the Prime Standard is required in order to be eligible for inclusion in one of the selection indices (DAX®, MDAX®, SDAX® and TecDAX®).

Securities may be "included in the trading" (rather than being listed) on the unofficial market (Freiverkehr), which the FSE has branded as "Open Market" (which is regulated by the stock exchange itself and classifies also as a multilateral trading facility). No primary listing of equity securities is possible any more in the exchange-regulated Open Market other than on the Scale segment. In the "Open Market" shares can be traded:

• On the Quotation Board, but only if this is their secondary "listing" venue.
• On the Scale segment, if they meet additional transparency requirements.
• On the Basic Board, for former issuers listed in the disbanded Entry Standard segment, but which do not meet the requirements (or did not apply) for a listing on the Scale segment. Moreover, Scale issuers who do not fulfill the criteria for a Scale listing any longer can be "downgraded" to the Basic Board. In the following, we do not discuss the Basic Board, since it is not possible to commence a primary listing on the Basic Board.

Companies admitted to the General Standard and the Prime Standard fulfill the transparency requirements under the EU Transparency Directive and gain all the advantages of a full listing.

The SME market segment "Scale" has stricter admission and post-listing obligations compared to the Entry Standard requirements of its predecessor. Issuers are also subject to the post-listing obligations under the European Market Abuse Regulation (publication of inside information, insider lists, reporting of directors' dealings), with some modifications, given that Scale obtained the status of an SME growth market in December 2019. With the Scale segment, the FSE has created a simple, quick and cost-efficient way of including shares in exchange trading without application of the EU Transparency Directive, but with some elements of comparable transparency, which is particularly suited for small and medium-sized companies.

In January 2024, the Future Financing Act went into force, which made important amendments to German corporate law to increase the attractiveness of the German capital market and the attractiveness of using a German stock corporation as a listing vehicle (also to counter the recent wave of German IPOs on US stock exchanges using Dutch listing vehicles).

The most important changes include:

• (Re-)introduction of shares with multiple voting rights – thus allowing dual class share structures, which will allow founders to float a company without losing control.
• Simplifying the creation of SPACs under German corporate law and also modifying the listing rules for SPACs.
• Allowing shares to be registered using distributed ledger technology (crypto shares).
• Increasing the ceiling for share offerings with simplified exclusion of pre-emptive subscription rights from 10% to 20% of existing capital.
• Improvements in the tax treatment of employee share plans.

While the FSE's supervisory authority is the Ministry of Economy of the State of Hesse, the relevant regulatory authorities for a listing on the FSE are the FSE's management board (Geschäftsführung) and BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht), which is the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority responsible for prospectus review and approval and for the supervision of DBAG as MTF operator.