Banking law

Private banking law deals with the relationship between banks and customers and the relationship between banks themselves. The related civil law regulations are spread across numerous laws and, in the case of consumers as customers, are also influenced by European law. Private banking law is also shaped by the banks’ terms and conditions and, within the banking industry, by banking agreements.

In public banking law, public regulations deal with the state’s supervision of the banking industry. The objectives of banking supervision are to counteract irregularities that could jeopardize the security of the assets entrusted to it, that could impair the proper execution of banking transactions or that could result in significant disadvantages for the economy as a whole. Banking supervision in the Federal Republic of Germany is exercised by BaFin. As an independent body of the EU, the ECB is responsible for banking supervision from a European perspective.