may be slowing, but its financial capital is booming. New towers are rising to join those of Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank,Bank, Helaba and others on Frankfurt’s jagged skyline. More are on the drawing board. Had you read no financial news for the past decade, you might presume that Germany’s banks were thriving too.
Reportedly, Germany’s government would like to see Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank merge. Politics aside, the state has a limited direct say. It owns 15% of Commerzbank, the legacy of a bail-out and a merger with the stricken Dresdner Bank in 2008-09. It has no stake in Deutsche. Rumour has also linked Commerzbank with French and Italian suitors, and suggested that Deutsche’s bosses would prefer a deal with Switzerland’s, but ministers may be loth to see another big bank in foreign hands .
The timing, though, would be terrible. Deutsche, having decided to sell Postbank in 2015 and to keep it two years later, is still tying two systems together. A merger would mean combining Commerzbank too. Both banks are already slashing costs and shedding staff; a union would add another round.
I would expect something much more nuanced from The Economist - shouldn't an acquisition of CBK happen at the lowest possible price - i.e. now ? Is the point not to buy low and sell high ?
Worse timing ever!
They can also hide a lot of their corruption or maybe accelerate corruption after merger.
A ruse to unload tens of thousands of employees & while the ECB is reasonably solvent to replace capital. But more interestingly, what’s the % age of NPL’s ?