Formed in 2007 by the merger of the Bankacademie, which dated back to 1957, and the Hochschule fur Bankwirtschaft, founded in 1990, this private non-profit institution based in Germany’s financial capital offers courses ranging from undergraduate to doctoral and executive level. It is accredited by the AACSB and EQUIS.
Operating under the slogan "German Excellence, Global Relevance", it moved in 2017 to a purpose-built campus which cost €110m. Its other German centres are in Hamburg and Munich and in 2016 it formed an alliance of German MBA providers with ESMT Berlin, HHT Leipzig, Mannheim Business School and WHU.
Also seeking to create "sustainable international business practice", it was one of the 18 founding institutions of the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Business and Development.
It has international offices in Nairobi, Beijing, Shanghai, Pune and Sao Paulo. It has had a share since 2003, and is now the majority shareholder, in Shanghai International Banking and Finance Institute (SIBFI). Asian and African interests are also reflected in the offer of an e-course in Islamic Microfinance since 2016.
Nils Stiglitz, who became dean in 2018, has characterised the school as "young and hungry", continuing the policy of his predecessor Udo Steffens to expand faculty over the next few years by recruiting a mix of high-quality researchers and management practitioners. Both have also pointed to the potential benefits to both the school and to Frankfurt as a financial centre as a consequence of Brexit.
A new master's course in applied data science started in September 2018.
