Deutsche Börse AG is a marketplace organizer for the trading of shares and other securities. It also is a transaction services provider. It gives companies and investors access to global capital markets. It is a joint stock company and was founded in 1993. The headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany.
More than 3,200 employees service customers in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Deutsche Börse has locations in Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Spain, as well as representative offices in London, Paris, Chicago, New York, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange), is one of the world's largest trading centers for securities. With a share in turnover of around 90 percent, it is the largest of the German stock exchanges. The other German stock exchanges are located in Berlin (Berliner Börse, merged with Bremen in 2003), Düsseldorf (Börse Düsseldorf), Hamburg (Börse Hamburg), Hanover (Börse Hannover), Munich (Börse München), and Stuttgart (Börse Stuttgart). Deutsche Börse AG operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Deutsche Börse is the owner of Clearstream, a clearing house based in Luxembourg.
In 2001, Deutsche Börse tried to merge with the London Stock Exchange, followed in 2006 by a takeover bid, both rejected by LSE. After CEO Werner Seifert was forced to resign by the main shareholders in 2005, Deutsche Börse changed plans and entered into advanced negotiations for a merger with Euronext which would have brought two of the biggest stock exchanges in Europe into one holding. The New York Stock Exchange beat out Deutsche Börse's final bid for Euronext in 2006.
On 7 December 2008, Deutsche Boerse rebuffed rumors that it might join with NYSE Euronext to create the world's leading stock exchange. While the company claims that it pursued the matter, on December 8, 2008 it reported that talks with which began on November 25, 2008 were closed without any result due to differences in valuation of the company.