The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (German: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) better known by its abbreviation BaFin is the financial regulatory authority for Germany. It is an independent federal institution with headquarters in Bonn and Frankfurt and falls under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance. BaFin supervises about 2,700 banks, 800 financial services institutions, and over 700 insurance undertakings. History Background Prudential banking supervision in Germany essentially started as a consequence of the banking crisis of 1931, prior to which the only supervised credit institutions were the public savings banks. On 19 September 1931, a decree established the office of Reichskommissar für das Bankgewerbe (lit. 'Imperial Commissioner for Banking'), for which Chancellor Heinrich Brüning appointed Friedrich Ernst. In 1934, this was transformed into the ...