Frankfurt

What Frankfurt is for¹

It is where the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank, the EU insurance regulator EIOPA and, from 2025, the EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority sit. After Brexit many banks moved business there from London and some turned their Frankfurt offices into European headquarters, per Helaba's May 2025 review of the financial centre.

The deal market is DACH, and the US banks lead it²

Frankfurt teams cover Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Mergermarket's 2025 tables Goldman Sachs topped DACH M&A with USD 204.4bn across 51 deals. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are the domestic names, but the league table is not a home-field table.

By count, Germany belongs to the mid-market advisers³

Ranked by number of German deals in 2025, the table is led by KPMG Corporate Finance (66) and PwC (48), then Houlihan Lokey, Lincoln International, Goldman Sachs, Rothschild & Co and two independent advisers, Carlsquare and Saxenhammer, with 32 and 31. The firms that do the most German deals are mostly not the ones at the top by value: KPMG's 66 came to USD 3.6bn.

Deutsche Bank: fourth at home by value, tenth in DACH³

Deutsche Bank advised on USD 46.2bn of German deals in 2025, fourth by value, across 19 deals. Across Germany, Austria and Switzerland together it was tenth by value, down from third in 2024. The home champion is a strong seat, not the dominant one.

Check what the Frankfurt team actually executes⁴

Many banks run their sector, financial-institutions and capital markets teams from London, so a good share of the execution on German deals happens there. Before accepting a Frankfurt seat, ask how large the local team is and what it does itself - above all at a smaller house, where the office may be mainly coverage.

German is the working language^5,6

Documents and presentations are often in English because the deals are cross-border, but the team talks in German. Baird's Frankfurt internships are open only to students who speak both German and English, where its London programmes ask for English alone.

The way in is off-cycle^5,6

Frankfurt offices keep interns year-round on internships of two to six months, often taken between a bachelor's and a master's, and hire graduates almost only from them. Baird runs its Frankfurt programme as three-month quarterly internships with rolling applications. There is no single autumn deadline to miss, and no single deadline to aim for either.

Expect the interviews to be technical⁷

One candidate who interviewed in several cities described Frankfurt's interviews as the most technical, heavy on accounting and valuation, and London's as easier on technicals and weighted towards fit. That is one account, not a rule, but it is worth preparing for.

German analysts are expected to arrive knowing the basics⁴

London hires analysts at 21 or 22 from any subject and trains them. German teams expect an economics or business degree and corporate finance fundamentals from the start, so the first year looks different: less taught, more expected. Prepare the technical set accordingly.

Where the candidates come from⁸

WHU and Mannheim are the German targets in the standard lists, with St. Gallen for the Swiss side of DACH. The University page covers the targets country by country.

The universal banks and Landesbanken are a German side door⁹

Germany has a tier the American lists leave out: commercial banks with an investment bank inside, and the state-owned Landesbanken. They are less sought-after than the leading banks, which makes them realistic first internships, and they are strong in debt financing. The Banks area covers them.

Work permits are not the obstacle; German is¹⁰

EU citizens need no permit. For others the EU Blue Card requires a salary of €50,700 in 2026, or €45,934.20 for graduates within three years of their degree, which any analyst salary clears. The practical filter is the language, not the visa.

The bonus cap still applies here and no longer in London^11,12

EU banks may not pay variable pay above 100% of fixed pay, or 200% with shareholder approval. The UK removed that cap from 31 October 2023, so the same bank can now give its London staff a larger variable share than EU rules allow it to give the same role in Frankfurt.