The shock waves were devastating: financial, debt, Euro crisis, triggered by the Crash of Lehman Brothers Bank, ten years ago. Today, there are more safety? Sabine Kinkartz from Berlin.
5. October 2008, Berlin, German Chancellery, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück assure: “The savings deposits are safe.”
What would be, when the Lehman bankruptcy took place today? He would tear down the financial markets again in the abyss or the banks and financial institutions would be prepared this time? “Do you want to spread a good mood or bad?”, Antje Tillmann, the Finance asks policy spokesperson of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag and brings with it a Dilemma to the point: Although adopted in Germany in the past ten years, more than 80 laws to stabilize the financial markets and make them less vulnerable to potential shocks. It has improved a lot. Not done it but.
“Crises have the disadvantage that they break up again and again in other Places,” said Tillmann in a DW interview. Where the Federal government regulates that you’ve done everything you could do. “It is duties still remain, but you may pick in between air and say, what we have achieved, leads to more security in the financial markets, and with this sigh of Relief, we can devote ourselves now to the new tasks.”
European Bank supervision and Bank bailout Fund as a “Airbag”
The policy of the industry has prescribed spoken Airbags, so protection pads to minimize in the case of an impact injury. Since 2014 there is a common European banking supervision and a European Bank rescue Fund that can step in in case of an emergency, with 60 billion euros. The banks have to hold more equity capital, more reserves of their own money, with which they could compensate for losses.
Danièle Nouy is Head of the ECB banking supervision, which is used for the control of the major banks in the Euro-countries. It monitors 119 money houses directly. Smaller institutions are supervised by national authorities of the Euro countries.
The amount of this equity is a fierce fight that is not fought until today ensued. “It has tightened the laws, but only that the banks fault, with 97 percent, but 96 percent,” criticized the financial policy spokesman of the Greens in the Bundestag, Gerhard Schick to the DW. The Greens are still of the opinion that a stable debt brake for banks requires a ten percent equity.
How do you define stability in the EU?
The FDP financial expert Florian Toncar. “The banks today have better quality capital that can actually be used much easier, to cover losses, while it was tied up to 2008 always to restrictive conditions.” So-called “system relevant” banks – such as Deutsche Bank would be required to hold a higher percentage of equity.
That may be true for Germany, the whole of the EU, the situation is less rosy. In some countries, banks not only have too many bad loans on their balance sheets, but also to many of the government bonds of the highly indebted country. “The intertwining of the state and the banks in many countries often still too close”, writes Antje Tillmann. “If we change now, with great speed, the Bank balance sheets and more capital demand in a Situation in which the position in the state house just keep reasonably calmed down, then go quickly back to back”, warned the CDU politician.
The meltdown in the financial market began on 15. September 2008
What if …. ?
That is to say, keep quiet, and hope that all goes well? If something like the Lehman would be Bankrupt to take place today, then the taxpayers would have to step in again, analyses of the national Martin host Hellwig. “Recovery and resolution mechanisms are not in serious case, as before, able to function,” writes the Professor, in an essay for the ZBW-Leibniz information centre for Economics.
Sticking point is, as before, the liquidity of the banks in the restructuring case. In the case of larger banks in the medium or warranties with three – digit to four-digit billion amounts, an order of magnitude, which is in the Eurozone, politically explosive required.” Conclusion: banks in these orders of magnitude could not be handled “without harm to the financial system as a whole”.
Much theory, too little practice
A statement that dares to speak to hardly anyone. Slightly better in the case of small and medium-sized banks. However, only in theory. “We have to prepare the banks to better the handling of the case and the time to drill”, the FDP-politician Toncar. “The resolution rules are there, they are not only being tested.” This is also a question of political will, as you’ve seen on the Italian Bank “Monte dei Paschi di Siena” which was saved in 2017 at the end yet again by the state. “Because the courage was lacking to apply the rules”, so Toncar.
Almost nine billion euros were missing in the Milanese Bank
But what is – to come back to the car with the accident itself? Can prevent, or at least extremely unlikely to be made? For this you need to turn a real Financial, says Gerhard Schick. As before, the banks would grow much faster than the real economy and their return were obliged to, and not to the economic welfare of society. “If you look at the ten years, then it is so, that although again and again to the right sites worked, but the financial lobby has managed to get the crucial changes are really slowing down.”
Who looks as through yet?
Schick is a financial expert, he has accompanied the crisis management of the Federal government over the years, from the Opposition critically and was a member from 2009, the Bundestag investigation Committee, the illuminated the Bankruptcy of the German Bank holding company, Hypo Real Estate. In retrospect, the 46-year-old is disillusioned. “We have had really dozens and dozens of legislative process and many pages of paper will be described. But we have not reached the necessary changes in order to make such a crisis for the future extremely unlikely.”
The law is dense, but there are too many exceptions and clauses, “so that experts still can do what you want, because you find yourself in these clauses”, so Chic. “For small banks, but created an incredible bureaucratic burden, and many customers complain about, that you get at the Bank counter, and insurance, an incredible amount of paper.”
Gerhard Schick has fought in the Bundestag again and again for tougher measures. Instead of trying to solve the crisis fundamentally, have fought the Federal government under Angela Merkel is always only the symptoms that he criticizes.
Is turned back the regulation?
Since the policy is to make improvements now. “We want to relieve small and medium-sized banks from the massive regulatory action a bit, but only to the extent that the security is not at risk,” says CDU Finance expert Tillmann. It also has quite the USA in view that it wants to make your banking easier to do good business. “As long as the Americans are doing exactly that also, fits the to our deregulation, but of course we don’t observe at the Moment – still with concern, but very intense.”
Watch the Video 01:30 live 01:30 Min. 
Share
Europe needs strong banks
Send Facebook Twitter google+ Tumblr VZ Mr. Wong Xing Newsvine Digg
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/33x3a
Europe needs not many, but strong banks
Fueled by the deregulation efforts in the United States, German banks are calling for more freedoms. The Bank’s market is global, but the same conditions could now be no question, criticised the chief Executive of the Federal Association of German banks, Christian Ossig in the “business week” and calls for better conditions of competition. The banks would have to be dealt with much more as a company. Financial market policy is also location policy.
What’s next?
The call for less investment in the policy. The Wind had turned in favor of the banks, says Gerhard Schick. “In 2008 and 2009 has been much discussed, there have been demonstrations and signature campaigns, has given us here in the Bundestag enormous tailwind. Today, the topic is discussed only to a few specialists, and since then, we no longer get the crucial changes.” This results in a consequence, attracts Chic: “You can bring the financial markets under control, but that’s just the society as a whole, not two, three individual professionals to create in the Bundestag.”