Structure, business model, and features of the IPS*

This management report supplements the consolidated financial statements of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network (‘Cooperative Financial Network’).

The Cooperative Financial Network consists of 695 cooperative banks (2022: 735), the DZ BANK Group, Münchener Hypothekenbank eG, the BVR protection scheme, and BVR Institutssicherung GmbH as consolidated entities. The consolidated cooperative banks include Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank eG, the Sparda banks, the PSD banks, and specialized institutions such as BAG Bankaktiengesellschaft.

The cooperative banks and Münchener Hypothekenbank eG constitute the legally independent, equally ranked parent entities of the Cooperative Financial Network in the consolidated financial statements, whereas the other banking groups and entities are consolidated as subsidiaries.

The Cooperative Financial Network’s institutional protection scheme (IPS) is set up as a dual cooperative scheme that comprises the BVR protection scheme and BVR Institutssicherung GmbH. The institutions are linked – through the dual cooperative protection scheme – on the basis of the rules in the statutes and in the articles of association. The protection scheme is mainly focused on avoiding and, if necessary, eliminating threats to the ability of individual institutions to continue as a going concern.

The principles and methods of the dual cooperative protection scheme are outlined in more detail in the combined opportunity and risk report.

* Institutional Protection Scheme.

Definition of the main operating segments

The definitions of the operating segments referred to in the management report – ‘Retail Customers and SMEs’, ‘Central Institution and Major Corporate Customers’, ‘Real Estate Finance’, and ‘Insurance’ – can be found in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.