Financial markets in 2024

KfW is one of the world’s largest and most active participants in the money, capital and derivatives market. In this role, it also has a huge amount of responsibility for the further development of the respective market segments in which it operates. In 2024, KfW laid important foundations to position itself for the future and meet the challenges of our society and the modern financial world.

KfW is focusing on digitalisation – including in its refinancing activities. The benefits are obvious: increased efficiency through automated and faster processes as well as cost savings, both of which are absolutely crucial given the growing shortage of skilled workers and demographic change. Besides, innovative approaches and pioneering services are also increasing KfW’s employer appeal. In addition, KfW’s digitalisation initiatives contribute to its overarching objective of securing the competitiveness of Germany and of Frankfurt as a financial centre. This means that KfW is also fulfilling its role as a promotional bank, driving force and enabler in its financial market activities.

Transformation of the issuance process

KfW has driven forward the digitalisation of its funding activities in recent years by implementing a number of innovative measures and pilot projects. The overarching goal: holistic digitalisation of the entire issuance process. To achieve this, KfW is trying out various approaches to testing alternative solutions, processes and technologies for their scalability and marketability.

In 2024, KfW implemented the following two flagship projects:

Outlook for 2025: The digitalisation journey continues

Digitalisation will continue to play a major role for KfW in 2025. In doing so, KfW is building upon its previous experience and will place a greater focus on the use of platforms as well as the integration of new solutions into its trading systems. KfW is also planning further blockchain-based transactions in order to broaden its own range of experiences.

For a decade, KfW has been a significant player in the international green bond market. With a total issue volume of over EUR 80 billion, the bank is one of the largest issuers of green bonds worldwide. In the 2024 financial year, KfW generated net revenue of EUR 12.2 billion from green bonds, which corresponds to around 16% of its total funding volume of EUR 78.1 billion. For KfW, green bonds are not only a central element of its overall financing mix, but also an essential component of its sustainable financing strategy and an important instrument for promoting greater sustainability on the capital market.

Since 2024: new green bond framework

In January 2024, KfW introduced its new Green Bond Framework, expanding the existing framework for its green bond programme not only in terms of content, but also strategically. With the inclusion of the two new project categories “Biodiversity” and “Climate action campaign for companies”, KfW has adapted its framework to current developments and the expectations of its international investors. The new framework has also made it possible for the first time to allocate the proceeds from the green bonds to KfW’s international financing from Financial Cooperation or from KfW IPEX-Bank. The first biodiversity projects were identified in 2024.

Outlook for 2025

KfW will continue to be an active green bond issuer on the market in financial year 2025 and will offer green bonds in various currencies. Over the course of the current year, KfW plans to issue green bonds worth EUR 10 billion, which corresponds to around 15% of the targeted total funding volume of EUR 65 to 70 billion.

Find out more about KfW’s green bond activities

Find out more about KfW’s funding activities

Legal notice:
The information contained in this online Annual Report 2024 is based on KfW’s Financial Report 2024, which you can download here. Should this online Annual Report 2024, despite the great care taken in preparation of its content, contain any contradictions or errors compared to the Financial Report, the KfW Financial Report 2024 takes priority.