Latest news

Here you will find the latest news from the auditing association and its associated companies.

On 30 November 2022 the Auditing Association of German Banks invited its members to a General Meeting in Frankfurt after a two-year break due to the pandemic, during which the General Meeting had to be held in virtual form.

The focus of this year's GM was on the formal part of the meeting, with the new complemented Executive Board team attending for the first time and Mr. Andreas Hähndel personally introducing himself to the members as the new Chairman of the Executive Board. In addition, particular mention should be made of the adoption of the proposed amendments to the Articles of Association, which will make a lasting contribution to shaping the Auditing Association into an agile risk manager and to specifying the tasks of the Auditing Association's committees and external control functions. Furthermore, the Advisory Board of the Auditing Association was newly elected by the General Meeting as scheduled. We look forward to welcoming both, familiar and new faces, at the constituent meeting in the spring.

The formal part of the meeting was followed by a convivial conclusion in an informal atmosphere. We thank you very much for the active participation.

The venue and time of the next GM in 2023 have not yet been determined. We will announce the details in due time and are looking forward to welcoming you at an attendance event next year as well, if possible.

On 07.10.2021 this year's General Meeting of the Auditing Association took place again virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation and was broadcasted via Livestream from Berenberg Bank in Hamburg.

Main focus of the GM was the speech by the Chairman of the Advisory Board, Dr. Michael Diederich, on the strategic realignment of the Auditing Association with the goal on a significantly faster, more effective and more agile operating Auditing Association. It should combine the perspective of the auditor even more closely with the perspective of the risk manager in order to counteract emerging risks at an early stage, to take effective measures and to manage the risks closely. In addition, he should work even more with modern, digital technologies. This is accompanied by organizational, structural and personnel changes. Subsequently, Sebastian Podporowski reported on the association's activities in 2020 with a focus on the risk management and auditing activities, also against the background of the risks for the banks resulting from the corona pandemic. Finally, the annual financial statements were explained.

Venue and date of the next General Meeting have not been set up yet and will be announced in due time. We are really looking forward to welcoming the representatives our member banks in person again soon.

The certification according to ISO 27001 on the basis of IT-Grundschutz initially obtained in 2018 expired in April 2021. So a re-certification audit was carried out in February 2021 by the Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI).

The BSI finally attested on June 24th, 2021 that we had passed the tests successfully and that the validity of the exitisting certification is extended until June 23rd, 2024.

This once again confirmed the high standard of information security in the entire Auditing Association Group and the effectiveness of the measures taken to comply with the applicable requirements and for the purpose of a continuous improvement process.

The Auditing Association of German Banks (Prüfungsverband deutscher Banken e.V.). (PV) has developed the "Connect" exchange platform for itself and its affiliated companies in order to offer its clients a secure, digital data exchange in both directions. GBB-Rating Gesellschaft für Bonitätsbeurteilung mbH (GBB-Rating) is the first company in the PV association to launch the "Connect" platform as a pilot to enable its clients to securely and efficiently transfer data, files and documents in both directions as part of its information and service offering. The Auditing Association and other affiliated companies of the PV network intend to follow suit successively and to place their own information and service offerings on Connect. With the Connect exchange platform, the Auditing Association would like to provide you with an attractive, secure and up-to-date medium to promote the digital exchange of data and information between you and the PV Association.

For the first time, this year's General Meeting of the Auditing Association took place virtually and was broadcasted via Livestream due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The main focus of the GM was the speech given by the Spokesman of the Management Board, Manfred Kühnle. He pointed out that this meeting type was a premiere for the Auditing Association, which could not have been foreseen at the beginning of the year. Understandably, the speech focused on the Covid-19 situation. Mr. Kühnle called the current crisis a „Green Swan“ – a definition created by the think tank of the Bank for International Settlements for climate or natural events with a global and significantly damaging impact on the financial, economic and social systems.

He continued with explaining the dimensions of the crisis, its combat and the relief efforts, inkluding their side effects, and emphasized the important role of the banking industry, too. He ended his speech with a summary and an outlook: “The corona pandemic has shown us the limits and has taught us humility and respect at the same time. Perhaps, it also has sharpened our focus on what is ‚really‘ important.“ The full speech is available on our website (see section „Information“ / „Downloads“).

The formal meeting part started with the Management Board Report on the financial year 2019, followed by the resolutions on the exoneration of the Management and Advisory Board.

Even if the requirements of the formal virtual meeting have been entirely fulfilled, it was not possible to meet the representatives of our member banks in person subsequently. Hence and to our regret, the reception and the valuable part of discussions had to be canceled this time.

The next General Meeting will take place in Hamburg. We hope that the pandemic situation will have normalized by then and the meeting will take place in its regular format.

The European Forum of Deposit Insurers, EFDI for short, presented and adopted to the General Assembly in September this year a sustainability charter co-initiated by the GBB.

The European Forum of Deposit Insurance Providers (EFDI) acts as an international association of participating stakeholders with the aim of promoting european cooperation and the discussion of supervisory issues in the fields of deposit insurance, investor compensation and related crisis management. Of which the Auditing Association of German Banks acts as an (associate) member.

The charter contains principles which - if applicable - have already been implemented or tackled in the PV network.

On October 28, 2020 the Auditing Association of German Banks officially signed the EFDI Sustainability Charter as an associate member of EFDI.

For the auditing association of German banks (PV), whose main task is to reduce risks in the interest of the deposit protection system for private banks and thus to secure customer deposits by private banks, creating added value for its members and acting sustainably are not only desirable, but rather a matter of course responsibility.

The core task of the PV is to ensure lasting stability; this will only succeed if sustainability is also taken into account in our daily activities. For this reason, the auditing association of German banks adopted a sustainability strategy at the beginning of 2020, set up the Sustainable Office department and appointed the sustainability officer to head this department. The officer started her activity at the beginning of this year and pushes ahead with the implementation of the sustainability strategy in the PV group and is responsible together with the Executive Board.

Sustainable action represents an imperative to maintain competitiveness for the private banking sector and its associations and is pursued in the PV group with the corresponding seriousness. In addition to the economic perspective, ecological, social and community factors are also taken into account. In this way, the PV group will continue to be positioned as a reliable and proven partner in building long-term, stable economic success in society and, by consistently pursuing the goals set, will make allowance for sustainable aspects of life.

The PV's sustainability strategy is based on the German Sustainability Code (DNK), which contains 20 criteria for sustainable management to implement the strategy. As a concrete example of how PV contributes to the community (criterion 18), we support the Aktion Mensch Soziallotterie. This non-profit association supports important social projects and educational measures to improve the general living conditions of people with and without disabilities with around 200 million euros (funding 2018). We proudly present the seal of Aktion Mensch 2020 which we received for our support.

This year’s General Meeting of the Auditing Association took place in Wiesbaden. On the special occasion of its 50th anniversary, the „Kurhaus“ in Wiesbaden was selected to host the GM which is well known as one of the magnificent festive buildings in Germany and the social hub of the spa town.

The focus of this event was the exciting anniversary speech reflecting the main stages of business development and the highlights over the last 50 years. Afterwards, the formal part of the GM started. In addition to the Management Board Report on the financial year 2018 and the resolutions on the exoneration of the Management and Advisory Board, new Advisory Board members were elected: Dr. Bettina Orlopp (Board Member, Commerzbank AG), Dr. Alexander Ilgen (Board Member, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG), Guglielmo Zadra (Board Member, UniCredit Bank AG) as well as Fedun Mazaheri (Board Member, HSBC Trinkhaus und Burkhardt AG).

Following the formal meeting, State Minister of Finance in Hesse, Dr. Thomas Schaefer, gave a lecture on the topic „Banking business at the financial center Frankfurt and current challenges“. Thereafter, Martin Michel (Managing Director of the Wiesbaden Congress & Marketing GmbH) provided an insight about the Kurhaus features. All guests were invited to a guided tour which also took them to the nearby „Staatstheater Wiesbaden“. Its construction as „The New Royal Court Theatre“ was initiated by Emperor Wilhelm II. The General Meeting was completed with a reception in the Conservatory of the Kurhaus. As every year, a welcome opportunity to meet and greet all representatives of our member banks in a relaxed atmosphere and to talk about bank-specific topics and in general.

The next General Meeting (GM) will take place in Duesseldorf.

The number of Eddies users has more than doubled in the past 12 months. The following 17 European compensation schemes are now connected via Eddies:

• Austria (except savings banks),

• Belgium

• Czech Republic,

• Germany (cooperative institutes),

• Germany (private banks),

• Germany (saving banks)

• Hungary,

• Ireland,

• Finland,

• France,

• Liechtenstein,

• Netherlands

• Norway,

• Romania

• Sweden,

• Slovakia,

• United Kingdom.

The platform serves European Deposit Guarantee Schemes to meet the legal / regulatory requirements for the secure exchange of information in cross-border compensation cases.

Due to the legal requirements (carrying out a cross-border stress test by June 30th, 2019 at the latest), the interest in Eddies is still high. On that basis discussions with further European compensation schemes for either the demo version or the full version of Eddies are ongoing.

If you are interested in Eddies or the free demo version do not hesitate to contact us directly. Please contact either Mr. Karp (t.karp@pvdb.de, Tel: +49221 16023105), or Mrs. Coenen (r.coenen@eis-treuhand.de; Tel. +49221 912697413).

In February 2019 the first surveillance audit regarding the existing ISO 27001 certification based on IT-Grundschutz was carried out. On 7 May 2019 the "Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik" (BSI) finally attested that we successfully passed the audit. This again confirmed the high standard of information security in the entire Auditing Association Group and the effectiveness of the measures taken for the purpose of a continuous improvement process.

30 November 2018 - Eddies welcomes BVR-ISG

Auditing Association welcomes BVR-Institutssicherung GmbH (BVR-ISG) - the DGS of the cooperative banking sector - as a new and now ninth contracting partner on Eddies. By now, Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGSs) from the following countries participate in Eddies:

•Austria (private banks),

•Czech Republic,

•France,

•Germany (cooperative banks)

•Germany (private banks),

•Hungary,

•Norway,

•Sweden,

•United Kingdom.

The platform serves European Deposit Guarantee Schemes to meet the legal and regulatory requirements for the secure exchange of information in cross-border compensation cases.

Against the background of the legal requirement (carrying out a cross-border stress test by 30.6.2019 at the latest), interest in eddies is currently very high.In 2018, further nine european DGSs use the free demo version.

If you would like to get more information about Eddies or if you want to try the Eddies Demo Version please do not hesitate to contact either Mr. Karp (t.karp@pvdb.de; Tel: +49221 16023105) or Mr. Hartenfels (o.hartenfels@eis-treuhand.de; Tel: +49221 912697412).

 

18 October 2018 - 48^th ordinary General Meeting (GM)

On 18.10.2018 the annual General Meeting (GM) of the Auditing Association took place in Hamburg. The venue of the meeting was the "Museum am Rothenbaum- Kulturen und Künste der Welt" - better known as the former "Museum für Völkerkunde". The actual meeting took place in the historic lecture hall. In addition to the Report of the Board of Management on the year 2017 and the resolution to the discharge of the Advisory Board and the Board of Management, it was decided in particular to amend the statutes of the Auditing Association. The amendments essentially concerned the requirements for membership in the Auditing Association and the assessment basis for the membership fee.

After completion of the formal part of the meeting, Holger Schmieding, Chief Economist of Berenberg Bank, spoke on the topic "Europe in transition: In the field of tension between economic and political risks".In his speech, he also addressed current developments in the USA and China.

Afterwards, all guests had the opportunity to participate in a museum tour, including excursions to the South Seas or the Maya and a visit to the Māori House.

The General Meeting (GM) was completed in the vaulted hall with a standing reception. As every year, it provided an opportunity to discuss bank-specific or general topics in a relaxed atmosphere with representatives of member banks.

04 April 2018 - Certified Information Security according to ISO 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz

Since 4 April 2018 the information domain of the Auditing Association of German Banks is certified according to ISO 27001 based on IT-Grundschutz. It is listed as a certified company at the "Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik" (BSI) under registration number BSI-IGZ-0314-2018.

Secure and reliable information processing is an essential business principle for the entire Auditing Association Group. Our member banks, customers and business partners have to trust that the information we receive is protected to a high degree. Information security with its dimensions of confidentiality, integrity and availability has therefore a high priority in the Auditing Association Group. With the performed certification we are now able to prove that we meet the high standards of the BSI for information security.

The official handover of the certificate took place on 15 June 2018 at the Bundesamt für Sicherheit und Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn.

The Auditing Association Group was accompanied on its way to the certification by INFODAS GmbH, Cologne.

The certificate and further information can be found in the download area.´

01 November 2017 - Eddies welcomes Norway

In November 2017 the Bankenes sikringsfond - Norwegian Banks Guarantee Fund joined the Eddies-platform. By now, Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGSs) from the following countries participate in Eddies:

•Austria (private banks),

•Czech Republic,

•France,

•Germany (private banks),

•Hungary,

•Norway,

•Sweden,

•United Kingdom.

Since October 2017 the Auditing Association of German Banks (AAGB) offers access to a free Demo Version of Eddies which is used at the moment by three additional DGSs.

Eddies is a web-based, multilateral exchange solution developed by the AAGB. Eddies offers an easy and secure solution for DGSs to exchange information using a central server. It is designed to assist DGSs in cross border payout scenarios. Data can be exchanged between participating DGSs through bilateral data exchange rooms. Particular attention was paid to security aspects within the exchange solution.

If you would like to get more information about Eddies or if you want to try the Eddies Demo Version please do not hesitate to contact either Mr. Karp (t.karp@pvdb.de; Tel: +49221 16023105) or Mr. Hartenfels (o.hartenfels@eis-treuhand.de; Tel: +49221 912697412).

27 June 2017 – Auditing Association of German Banks becomes an associate member of EFDI

With decision of the EFDI-Board by 27th of June 2017 the Audition Association of German Banks becomes an associate member of the European Forum of Deposit Insurers (EFDI). EFDI is an international non-profit association. The main objective is the promotion of european cooperation and the exchange to regulatory questions with reference to deposit insurance, investors compensation and crisis management. As in the past representatives of the Auditing Association and its associated companies were invited to european conferences and lectures of EFDI as a competent partner regarding to questions of deposit protection. The successful cooperation will be strengthened by the associate membership.

01 January 2017 - The "Go-Live" of Eddies - Successful Start of the Data Exchange Platform for European Deposit Insurance Systems

The implementation of the Deposit Guarantee Scheme directive poses many challenges for the European Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGS). In addition to fulfilling compensation claims within shorter timeframes, executing stress tests and providing the systems with sufficient financial resources, international compensations are also to be carried out properly and in due time.

The question arises as to which way the sensitive data of the deposits eligible for compensation can be exchanged between the national systems. A standardized requirements profile was developed by an EFDI working group with the involvement of Auditing Association of German Banks (Prüfungsverband deutscher Banken e.V)(); the final profile "H2C Rulebook" was published in September 2016 and also includes the prerequisite for a web-based central exchange platform.

The Auditing Association of German Banks with support from the Deposit Protection and Trust Company (Einlagensicherungs- und Treuhandgesellschaft mbH) have recently begun to set up this exchange platform under the name "Eddies" (European DGS to DGS Information Exchange System. Having central access to current contact details of the other DGS's at all times, as well as the possibility to upload large files, are major advantages of this central exchange platform in comparison to alternative transmission methods such as emails.

Eddies is ISO27001 certified and fully complies with all requirements of the H2C Rulebook.

Eddies has been in live operation since 01 January 2017.

18.11.2016 – Certified Information Security according to ISO 27001 (native) for the data exchange platform Eddies.eu

The central data exchange platform for European Deposit Guarantee Schemes has been certified as of 18 November 2016 according to ISO/IEC 27001 (native). ISO/IEC 27001 is an information security standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The effectiveness of the Information Security Management System set up for the data exchange platform to safeguard the IT protective objectives of confidentiality, integrity and availability of information could thus be confirmed externally. Examination and issuing of the certificate was carried out by Fox Certification GmbH, Stuttgart.

The Auditing Association Group was accompanied on its way to the certification by INFODAS GmbH, Cologne.

The certificate and further information can be found in the download area .

16 March 2016 – Auditing Association of German Banks becomes an associate member of IADI

With decision of the executive council the Audition Association of German Banks becomes an associate member of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). IADI is a global standard-setting body for deposit insurance systems. It contributes to the stability of financial systems by enhancing the effectiveness of deposit insurance and promoting international cooperation on deposit insurance and bank resolution arrangements in active partnership with other international organizations. IADI draws upon its membership to provide guidance on the establishment or enhancement of effective deposit insurance systems.