FIRM and FMF share the goal of strengthening the position of Frankfurt as a financial centre. But in furthering this common goal, each organisation brings a very different focus and set of competencies – while Frankfurt Main Finance is a location initiative and a voice for the city as a financial centre, FIRM is committed to promoting research and teaching in the field of risk management and regulation.
The old saying that “in every crisis lies the seed of opportunity” has been proved true, time and again; the key is to be able to identify this seed and make it grow, until it becomes a mighty oak. Frankfurt Main Finance, founded in 2008, and FIRM, founded in 2009, can both, in this sense, be seen as children of the financial crisis. The seed of opportunity which has grown into Frankfurt Main Finance was to more effectively coordinate and aggressively communicate the strengths and competitive advantages of Frankfurt, as well as the significance of the financial industry for the region’s economic prosperity. For FIRM, the seed of opportunity was the need to continuously find new and more intelligent ways to meet the constantly shifting challenges of risk management and regulation.
If there is one “lesson learned” from the financial crisis which stands out above all others, it is this: Banks must rethink the way that they manage risk. This recognition becomes all the more compelling when one considers that this is the nature of banking itself: The taking on, and managing, of risks. In helping to establish FIRM, Frankfurt Main Finance initially acted as a central point for coordination, until the pivotal moment on 3 June 2009 when the “Society for Risk Management and Regulation” was legally registered, giving birth to the Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation. Today, Frankfurt Main Finance and FIRM are “fraternal twins” with cross-representation at the board level.
In order to expand the role of Frankfurt Rhine-Main as a leading financial centre in the European Union, the following ten central task areas, which Gerhard Wiesheu formulated at the beginning of his presidency at Frankfurt Main Finance, are to be the focus in the future:
1. Winning trust again and again
2. Actively promoting the transformation to a sustainable economy
3. Driving forward digitalisation
4. Assert Frankfurt’s leading role within the EU
5. Strengthening the back of the supervisory and monetary authorities
6. Securing the pool of talent through education and research
7. Intensify networking with all stakeholders
8. Be a reliable partner for politics
9. Promote the quality of life in the financial centre
10. Anchor ethics as a pillar of all actions
Achieving all these goals requires staying power and the cohesion of many. Without its financial centre, Frankfurt would not have become the civic city that for many centuries has repeatedly shown what it is made of. Great financial dynasties have started their rise from Frankfurt, just as global financial houses feel at home here. As the smallest global financial centre, with a strong stock exchange, more than 70,000 employees in the financial sector and over 200 financial institutions, Frankfurt will continue to score with agility and creativity. FIRM and Frankfurt Main Finance will continue to use synergy effects in the future and work to jointly strengthen the financial centre along the above-mentioned tasks.
You can find the FIRM Yearbook 2021 here.
Image: algedroid/Pixabay
