It serves as a forum for dialogue between academia, policy-making institutions and the financial industry. The Center for Financial Studies (CFS) is an independent non-profit research center, funded by the non-profit organization Gesellschaft für Kapitalmarktforschung e.V. The CFS is financed by donations and by contributions from the GfK members, as well as by national and international research grants. The GfK members comprise major players in Germany’s financial industry. The institute was founded in 1967 as the Institut für Kapitalmarktforschung. In 1996, in the course of ongoing internationalization, the institute was renamed to Center for Financial Studies. Since 2008, the CFS is located in the House of Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt’s Campus Westend. The House of Finance combines under one roof several interdisciplinary research and education activities in the area of finance at Goethe University. In January 2013, CFS and Goethe University together launched the Research Center "Sustainable Architecture for Finance in Europe" (SAFE). In SAFE, more than 50 professors and just as many junior researchers from the areas of finance, macro- and microeconomics, law, marketing and sociology of Goethe University as well as partner universities worldwide conduct top-level scientific research and research-based policy advice in the area of finance. SAFE is funded by the State of Hessen’s "LOEWE" (Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz) excellence initiative.
