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
Mario Draghi
The Sadness of Karl otto Pöhl’s legacy
With the largest ever bond-buying program by the European Central Bank looming, Bundesbankers were in an apprehensive mood when they gathered on January 13 for a commemorative ceremony to mark the passing of the Bundesbank’s former President Karl Otto Pöhl. Pöhl, who for decades served as a member of TIE’s editorial advisory board, passed away December 9, 2014, at the age of … [Read more...] about The Sadness of Karl otto Pöhl’s legacy
After the bank stress tests, ECB backroom tension lingers
The surprisingly positive outcome of the ECB’s health check for German banks may be something of a reprieve for the strained relations between Germany and the evermore- powerful European Central Bank under its controversial Italian president, Mario Draghi. But for the ECB, the real stress and tests are yet to come for the supervisor tasked with making hard decisions with … [Read more...] about After the bank stress tests, ECB backroom tension lingers
Stress Test Blues
One thing has been clear since the European Central Bank was empowered as top supervisor for eurozone banks at the June 2012 EU summit. Before the ECB would assume responsibility as the euro area’s lead bank supervisor in November of this year, a comprehensive health check of bank balance sheets and a tough stress test in cooperation with the London-based European Banking … [Read more...] about Stress Test Blues
From Deauville to Cyprus
When the history of the euro area sovereign and bank debt crisis is written, the way the troika of Eurogroup finance ministers, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund managed the rescue of the outsized Cyprus offshore banking center will be useful as a case study to document the extremely fragile state of European Monetary Union at that point in time. … [Read more...] about From Deauville to Cyprus