Bundesbank unconcerned with creating ‘national banking champion’
German central bank pushes back against finance minister’s ambitions
Deutsche Bundesbank, one of Germany’s key financial watchdogs, has made clear that it would ignore political goals when deciding to approve a potential merger between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.
Joachim Wuermeling, a board member of Germany’s central bank, on Tuesday told bankers at a conference in Frankfurt that “[the desire to create] champions is not a relevant category for supervisors.”
His remark was a reference to German finance minister Olaf Scholz’s political ambition to create a “national champion” in banking by merging Germany’s two listed lenders.
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank on Sunday announced that they have started formal talks over a tie-up that would create the eurozone’s second largest bank with €1.9tn in assets.
Mr Wuermeling pointed out that such a deal needed regulators’s aproval and stressed that the authorities have a neutral stance with regard to a potential merger. “We monitor them, we do not initiate them,” he said.
The central banker stressed that a merged lender needed a viable and sustainable business model to win the regulator’s approval. “The assumptions and forecasts will be closely scrutinised.”