Deutsche WertpapierService Bank (dwpbank) has successfully completed the acquisition of the Berlin-based FinTech lemon.markets (www.lemon.markets), following approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
With lemon.markets, dwpbank Group is adding a neo-brokerage solution to its offering and is building a modern, modular ecosystem for securities services. Established financial institutions, asset managers and FinTechs will gain access to a broader, more flexible portfolio tailored to their specific needs — enabling them to respond quickly to market developments and serve both new and existing customer segments efficiently.
By acquiring lemon.markets, dwpbank is actively shaping the securities services market, which is characterised by strong competitive dynamics and the rise of neo-brokers. Together, the dwpbank Group is creating an ecosystem for modern, easily accessible and highly available securities services. The transaction was completed on September 30, 2025, following approval by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
dwpbank and lemon.markets will remain independent brands, while working closely on go-to-market efforts and the continued development of their complementary platforms and services. Combining dwpbank’s long-standing expertise and stability with lemon.markets’ innovative strength creates compelling partnership opportunities for market participants.
Close collaboration focused on customer needs, innovation and growth
The joint, integrated offering is designed to meet the diverse needs of banks, asset managers and FinTechs in a highly competitive securities market, with segment-specific solutions ranging from a global full-custody service covering all asset classes, order functions and trading venues, to a streamlined, standardised and efficient custody proposition tailored for the neo-broker segment. lemon.markets’ infrastructure enables features such as fractional trading, real-time processing and fully digitised workflows.
Kristina Lindenbaum, Executive Board Member responsible for Client and Digital Transformation at dwpbank, says: “There is no such thing as a ‘typical’ securities customer, today’s investor landscape is highly heterogeneous. It ranges from first-time investors who prefer a reduced scope of services to institutional investors with demanding requirements for their custody and investing experience. We are enhancing our high-performance securities platform, WP3, with a modular infrastructure for lean and digital brokerage and custody services, built on the public cloud. This enables us to support banks, asset managers and FinTechs with tailored, competitive offerings for the full breadth of their customer base: attractively priced, highly flexible, and technologically and regulatorily robust.”
Going forward, client institutions and partners will be able to access the combined service portfolio of dwpbank and lemon.markets. This enables institutions to serve both existing and new target groups efficiently, with accelerated time-to-market and a modern user experience. In doing so, dwpbank Group creates new growth opportunities for its clients in an increasingly competitive securities market.
dwpbank and lemon.markets will also combine their expertise to further develop their modular, cloud-based securities platforms. The Group will leverage lemon.markets’ innovative strength and dwpbank’s long-standing experience to deliver future-focused, efficient securities processing for client institutions and partners.
lemon.markets will continue its pan-European focus, acquiring partners and customers in its core segments and expanding existing relationships with an expanded service portfolio. Max Linden, Founder and CEO of lemon.markets, says: “Our focus remains on providing the leading Brokerage-as-a-Service platform for banks, asset managers and FinTechs. It is now even more compelling for market participants to partner with us. Together with dwpbank, we are actively shaping the securities market and continue to enable anyone to be an investor.”
With this strategic collaboration, both companies demonstrate how customer focus, technological openness and regulatory expertise can be successfully combined to set new standards in the securities business.