The Regulated Market constitutes an organised market in the sense of the Securities Trading Act (section 2 para. 11 WpHG) and is therefore an EU-regulated market. The conditions for admission and the follow-up duties that apply here are regulated by law, thus derive from EU law and accord with uniform EU-wide standards. The regulations are primarily set out in the Exchange Act, the Decree on Exchange Admissions, in the Securities Prospectus Act, in the Securities Trading Act and in Rules and Regulations of FWB® the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Unlike the Open Market which is governed by private law, the Regulated Market is an official market segment under public law.  

Issuers in the regulated market meet high standards that apply throughout the EU. In this way, the Regulated Market is above all geared to large and medium-sized corporations that are already able to meet these standards and wish to attract national and international investors.  

On FWB® the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, an IPO in the Regulated Market leads to a listing in the General Standard or the Prime Standard, a segment of the Regulated Market subject to additional follow-up duties and thus higher transparency requirements. 

The Open Market (Freiverkehr) is a regulated exchange market and not an organised market in the meaning of the German Securities Trading Act (section 2 para. 5 WpHG). Unlike the Regulated Market, which is subject to public law, the Open Market is subject to private law. The General Terms and Conditions of Deutsche Börse AG for the Regulated Open Market (Freiverkehr) on Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (FWB®) regulate the conditions for admission to and the follow-up duties for securities in the Open Market segment. Admission to the Open Market is possible for securities that are neither admitted to trading on the Regulated Market nor included in trading on the Regulated Market. In the Open market segments of the FWB®, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, alongside German shares, it is primarily foreign shares, German and foreign bonds, certificates and warrants that are traded. Equities from over 60 different countries are traded in the Open Market segment. 

Issuers and participants in the Open Market are subject to lower transparency requirements than in the Regulated Market. The Open Market segment is therefore an attractive alternative for both young, growth-oriented and medium-sized companies. 

In the Open Market, a company’s securities can be listed in the Scale or on the Quotation Board.  

This segment enables former issuers of the Entry Standard as well as issuers in Scale who do not meet the inclusion requirements or the minimum market capitalization of EUR 30 million to maintain a primary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB®). An initial public offering or technical listing in the Basic Board is not possible.

The Basic Board is not shown as a separat exchange segment, even though the companies in the Basic Board are obliged to continue to publish their financial reports (including the annual financial statements and management report as well as the half-year financial statements and interim management report).

D-Shares refer to shares of companies based in China which are listed in Germany on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s CEINEX D-Share market. The “D” stands for “Deutschland” or “Déguo´”, which means Germany in Chinese. CEINEX, a joint venture established by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Deutsche Börse Group, and the China Financial Futures Exchange, utilizes the infrastructure of Deutsche Börse Group for D-Share listings and trading. D-Share issuance is subject to the prior approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the prospectus shall be approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht or short BaFin). D-Share listed companies need to comply with all obligations of the market chosen for public offering, which is Deutsche Börse’s Prime Standard.

The bonds whose issue proceeds flow into the financing or refinancing of environment-related projects are bundled on boerse-frankfurt.de under “Bonds” with their own navigation point “Green Bonds”.

Investors for whom both economic and ecological aspects are important can also easily find bonds with corresponding strategies using the search function and an appropriate filter: under “Bonds” > “Finder”, unfold "Select more filters" and click on “Yes” for “Green Bonds”. The Green Bond Principles of the International Capital Markets Association form the basis for inclusion in the “green shop window”. Among other things, the use of issue proceeds, the project selection process, management and ongoing reporting on the use of proceeds are taken into account.

The bonds are listed on various European stock exchanges and are included in trading on Börse Frankfurt.

• Green Sustainable Finance Cluster Germany

With the REITs segment, Deutsche Börse AG offers a listing segment for shares issued by public limited real estate companies with special tax status (REIT). The REITs segment offers companies increased visibility and investor attention.

REITs are all German public limited companies (“Aktiengesellschaften”) which fulfil the requirements of the Act relating to German Public Limited Property companies with listed shares (German REIT Act). In addition, all foreign companies are considered to be REITs which have a comparable legal status.

• REITs conditions for participation
• Application for participation in the Deutsche Börse REITs segment