The Association of German Banks (German: Bundesverband deutscher Banken) is the association of private banks in Germany and a key lobby group for Germany's financial sector. In the traditional 3-pillar system of the German banking industry, this represents the commercial banks as opposed to the German Cooperative Financial Group and the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe of public banks. The association is a member of the Central Credit Committee governing the banking industry in Germany and a member of the European Banking Federation. The President of the association is Hans-Walter Peters.