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Trade Republic

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Trade Republic Bank GmbH
Company typePrivate
IndustryFintech
FoundedMunich, 2015
FoundersMarco Cancellieri
Thomas Pischke
Christian Hecker
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
Area served
Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland.
Key people
Christian Hecker, CEO
BrandsTrade Republic
ServicesStockbroker
Electronic trading platform
Number of employees
600 (2023)

Trade Republic Bank GmbH is a German online broker in Berlin. Shares, bonds, derivatives and cryptocurrencies can be traded on a mobile app.[1][2] In January 2024, Trade Republic said it had four million customers in 17 markets, including 2.5 million in Germany. According to co-founder Christian Hecker, Trade Republic is the "largest broker in Europe" and manages assets of around 35 billion euros.[3]

History

Trade Republic was founded in Munich in 2015 under the name Neon Trading in the startup incubator of Comdirect Bank.[1][2] The company's founders are philosopher Christian Hecker, physicist Thomas Pischke and computer scientist Marco Cancellieri.[1] In 2017, Düsseldorf-based Sino AG invested in the startup and acquired the majority of the company's shares. In 2019 and 2020, venture capitalists Creandum, Project A Ventures, Accel Partners and Founders Fund invested over 60 million euros in Trade Republic; Sino sold shares and was henceforth no longer the majority owner.[4]

Securities trading via app was offered in Germany for a closed user group starting in February 2019 and without user restrictions starting in May 2019.[5] As of April 2020, Trade Republic had 150,000 users. More than one-third of customers had "never bought a stock or invested in an ETF before" according to Trade Republic. Users were "on average in their mid-30s" and "male".[6]

Trade Republic began offering its services in Austria in November 2020, as well as in France and Spain in 2021.[7][8] By the end of 2020, the company reportedly had 600,000 customers with four billion euros in assets under management. Eighty percent of users would have set up an equity or ETF savings plan. As part of GameStop's 2021 stock surge, Trade Republic imposed a stop-buy on select stocks, including GameStop's stock, on the afternoon of January 28, 2021. The broker cited the "extreme situation in the market" and investor protection as reasons for the decision. Over 4,000 complaints were later filed at Federal Financial Supervisory Authority over this decision.[9]

In May 2021, another financing round of $900 million was announced at a valuation of $5 billion.[10] In June 2022 Trade Republic raised another 250 million.[11] In June 2022, Trade Republic proceed with layoffs due to an overgrowth of their work force and tightening business conditions.[12]

Trade Republic has been offering trading in fractional shares of securities since October 2022. Customers can purchase individual shares in stocks and ETFs for as little as one euro.[13]

The broker began paying interest on cash deposits in January 2023.[14] Trade Republic received a full banking license at the end of 2023.[15] In 2024, the company launched its own payment card.[16] Since it is a German bank, it is supervised by the BaFin. Client money is deposited in an omnibus trust accounts with one of the following banks: Deutsche Bank AG, J.P. Morgan SE, HSBC Continental Europe S.A. and Citibank Europe plc.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Kluge, Christoph (29 July 2020). "Dieses Berliner Start-up will Sparer an die Börse locken". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Verpasste Chance – Comdirect hätte in Trade Republic investieren können". FinanceFWD (in German). 19 November 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Interview mit Trade-Republic-Gründer. "Wir wachsen exponentiell"". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  4. ^ "sino AG | High End Brokerage: Trade Republic schließt eine €62 Millionen Series B Runde angeführt von Accel und Founders Fund ab - dgap.de". www.dgap.de. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Trade Republic: Investoren setzen Millionen auf den mobilen Broker". WiWo Gründer. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ Hemmersmeier, Jana (16 October 2020). "Boom der App-Broker: Die jungen Zocker kommen". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. ^ Mathewson, Fiona (7 January 2021). "Trade Republic startet in Frankreich". Business Insider (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Trade Republic llega a España" [Trade Republic arrives in Spain]. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Handelsbeschränkungen: Bafin nimmt 4000 Beschwerden gegen Trade Republic unter die Lupe". www.handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Trade Republic sammelt 900 Millionen ein (Bewertung: 5 Milliarden) - Pitch bekommt 85 Millionen (Bewertung: 600 Millionen)". deutsche-startups.de (in German). 20 May 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Ontario Teachers' joins Trade Republic on its mission to empower people to create wealth with €250m Series C extension". www.otpp.com. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Entlassungen bei Trade Republic". financefwd.com (in German). 6 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  13. ^ Frohn, Philipp (5 October 2022). "Smartphone-Broker: Aktien ab einem Euro: Trade Republic startet Handel mit Aktienbruchteilen". www.wiwo.de (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  14. ^ "So wirbt der Neobroker mit zwei Prozent Zinsen auf Tagesgeld". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Trade Republic erhält Vollbanklizenz – was das für Kunden heißt". capital.de (in German). 6 December 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  16. ^ Frohn, Philipp (11 February 2024). "Lohnt der Sparplan? : Trade Republics Bezahlkarte im Praxistest". www.wiwo.de (in German). Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Why is my money held in an omnibus trust account?". support.traderepublic.com. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
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