German Cooperative Financial Group

The German Cooperative Financial Group (German: Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, sometimes referred to in English as "Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Cooperative Financial Network") is a major cooperative banking network in Germany that includes local banks named Volksbanken ("people's banks") and Raiffeisenbanken ("Raiffeisen banks"), the latter in tribute to 19th-century cooperative movement pioneer Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. The Cooperative Group represents one of the three "pillars" of Germany's banking sector, the other two being, respectively, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe of public banks, and the commercial banking sector represented by the Association of German Banks.

The Bundesverband der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken (BVR) is the nationwide representative body of the Cooperative Financial Group. It operates under the Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband, the umbrella organization of the German cooperative movement. Most Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken in Germany are quite small and have thus been designated as "less significant institutions" since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in 2014, directly supervised by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The exceptions are DZ Bank, Münchener Hypothekenbank, and Deutsche Apotheker- und Ärztebank which are directly supervised by the European Central Bank.