Brief portrait of Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank
Rentenbank was founded in 1949 as a central funding institution with a statutory promotional mandate. German agriculture and forestry contributed the capital stock. Rentenbank is a federal institution under public law. It is backed by an explicit guarantee of the Federal Republic of Germany. Insolvency proceedings in respect of Rentenbank’s assets are inadmissible. The federal government bears institutional responsibility for Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank ensuring that Rentenbank is able to fulfil its promotional mandate. Rentenbank has its registered head office in Frankfurt am Main.
Rentenbank’s promotional mandate is comprehensive. Besides promoting agriculture and forestry, as well as the entire food value chain, Rentenbank also promotes renewable energy and renewable resources. And we support private-sector engagement and public-sector investments in rural areas. We attach particular importance to the promotion of innovation. Our commitment to this objective ranges from research and development in universities to the early-stage financing of agriculture-related start-ups and the market introduction and practical use of new technologies and products.
Our promotional instruments are grants, subordinated loans, special promotional loans, and venture capital investments. The special promotional loans are granted by the ultimate borrowers’ relationship banks (cooperative banks, savings banks, and private banks). We also provide funding to banks, savings banks, and local authorities operating in rural areas. The special promotional loans may be combined with budgetary resources of the federal government in the form of grants or guarantees. Our promotional offering includes instruments that facilitate investment in climate change mitigation, environmental protection and animal welfare. These offerings also serve the purpose of realising the potential to reduce greenhouse gases in agriculture and forestry. In order to promote new business ideas and innovation in agriculture, Rentenbank invests in venture capital funds. that provide financing to start-ups in the areas of ag-tech and food-tech and nature-based solutions.
We fund our promotional activity by issuing securities and taking out loans in the capital markets. Rating agencies have assigned the highest credit ratings of AAA and Aaa to Rentenbank’s long-term obligations.
Rentenbank is subject to banking supervision by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht; BaFin) and the German Central Bank (Bundesbank). Legal supervision is provided by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und Heimat; BMLEH) in agreement with the German Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium der Finanzen; BMF).
We are a member of the Association of German Public Banks (Bundesverband Öffentlicher Banken Deutschlands e. V.; VÖB) and the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB).