Some ten weeks after the German Bundestag elections, a traffic light coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Free Democrats took office on December 8, 2021. Olaf Scholz, who served in the previous coalition government as finance minister, was elected chancellor. Now a set of new politicians are in charge. The new year also brought another unexpected leadership change, this … [Read more...] about Cultural Change At the German Bundesbank
Banking & Finance
Germany´s Wirecard scandal – the largest accounting fraud in the country´s postwar history
While all of Europe is still in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, Germany’s political and financial establishments are also haunted by the Wirecard AG scandal. It is turning out to be the largest case of accounting fraud in the country’s post-war history. According to its promotion material, Wirecard authorized and processed payments for about 280,000 merchants, … [Read more...] about Germany´s Wirecard scandal – the largest accounting fraud in the country´s postwar history
Europe’s Forever Unfinished Banking Union
The Deutsche-Commerzbank merger fiasco sheds light on how weak Germany’s private banking sector remains a decade after the financial crisis, in a national market dominated by highly competitive customer-oriented savings banks and cooperative banks. On April 25, 2019, both banks announced that their management boards had come to the conclusion that a German government-supported … [Read more...] about Europe’s Forever Unfinished Banking Union
Deutsche Bank Robbery
Worries about the fragile state of the largest lender in both Germany and Europe, Deutsche Bank AG, dominated the unofficial agenda when bankers and finance officials from all parts of the world came to the annual meetings of International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Institute of International Finance in Washington this October. At the time, the headlines in the … [Read more...] about Deutsche Bank Robbery
The Lean or Clean Controversy
Some have lauded the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike after seven years as a beginning step toward the normalization of monetary policy. In recent remarks at the Bank for International Settlements’ Farewell Symposium in honor of outgoing Chairman Christian Noyer, the Fed’s vice chairman, Stanley Fischer, addressed the issue that has been raised by the BIS for … [Read more...] about The Lean or Clean Controversy