Frankfurt — German foreign minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that it was "a problem" that the country’s big banks had fallen behind their rivals on the global stage, depriving Germany’s export-orientated companies of strong local lending partners. Big German and European banks have "lost importance in global rankings" in the 10 years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers brought the sector to its knees, Scholz told a banking conference in Frankfurt. "I believe it’s a problem for a large economy like Germany’s, and for the EU, that the banks that are active here don’t have the scale or global reach needed to support the economy." Germany’s export success, he added, depends on companies being able to compete globally. "The financial sector and the banks have to be able to accompany them." The loss of confidence in Germany’s flagship Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank has been obvious from declines in their share prices. Deutsche Bank now has a market capitalisation of just under €21bn,...
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