Banks are under pressure for several weeks

German banks, arrived last night in the position of accused to the "crisis Summit" held in the Chancellery, involving economists, representatives of employers and trade unionists, were folded under pressure from the Government and are committed to ensure the financing of the economy. Without, for the moment, new instruments of public support.

As early as before the start of the Summit, as a sign of good will, the Commerzbank (partially nationalized 25) announced that it would increase its offer to SMEs whose turnover is between 2.5 from January of EUR 5 billion and EUR 500 million. Savings banks and regional banks also announced their intention to contribute to a new 5 to 10 billion euro Fund dedicated to larger SMEs. Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank pattern, presented as Herald of turbo-capitalism in Germany, proposed the creation of a fund financed by private banks but without specifying the amount.

The Government, contrary to what announced many articles at the beginning of week, did not yesterday new mechanisms of public support to banks, which have already benefited several hundreds of billions of euros in public aid. However, he will study with the public KfW bank the opportunity to make new crutches to the financial sector. Banks are under pressure for several weeks. Many entrepreneurs reproach them a very restrictive credit policy, including for SMEs, which ensure the success of German products for export. According to the latest indicator of the IFO Institute, 42.9 companies complain of a fastidiously or abusive, credit policy compared to 41.7 in October.

"Fulfill their duty."

Unusual, BDI, representing employers, is also mounted to the niche against the banking industry. According to his boss, Hans-Peter Keitel, banks must do everything to support and accelerate the start of recovery observed since two quarters. It also recalls that the crisis is born of the abuse of the financial sector, and that these actors must not "fall in the short-termism".

The new Minister of economy, Rainer Brüderle, has also asked the banks, on television, "fulfill their duty." "They must pass their customers the historically low interest rates of the Central Bank."

Even if there is not currently of "credit shortage" strictly speaking, the situation could rapidly deteriorate early 2010, when companies publish annual accounts 2009 highly degraded by the collapse of their order books and will degrade their risk profile. One of the issues of the moment is to revive the securitization market, that the crisis has rendered moribund, but allowing banks to dispose of a part of their risks, and therefore of acquiring others.

Yesterday morning, the Council of Ministers has appointed a mediator credit settle conflicts between banks and companies, mainly SMEs. This was Hans-Joachim Metternich, sixty-six years, close to the Minister for the economy, far pattern of BSI, a public Bank of support to the economy of the Land of Rhineland-Palatinate. Rainer Brüderle emphasized the success of the Ombudsman in France since November 2008.

The Summit yesterday, incidentally, points out that the German financial sector is not be cleaned up. In its financial stability report, the German Central Bank estimated at EUR 90 billion impairment losses that will have to register domestic institutions by the end of 2010. The structure of hiving-off device made available by the Government has been used by any private bank.