, Columnist
Deutsche Bank Is Still a Worry for the ECB
Europe’s banking supervisors were spared the need to rule on the Commerzbank deal. But they should exert more pressure on Deutsche.
German banking’s problems still need fixing.
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When Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG pulled their merger talks at the end of last month, there was an audible sigh of relief at the European Central Bank.
The deal was bound to raise eyebrows among the supervisors, as it would have concentrated the risk of a mega-bank in a single country, while offering few credible efficiency gains in return. And yet Germany’s finance ministry was a vocal backer of the deal, hoping it would create a “national champion” to serve the interests of the country’s businesses.