BERLIN (MNI) – The German Finance Ministry on Monday called it an
“encouraging sign” that the European bank stress tests achieved their
goal of shedding light on risks in the banking sector.
Still, with regard to Germany “there exists no additional need for
government action” beyond those measures for the state-owned lender Hypo
Real Estate (HRE) already announced prior to the publication Friday of
test results, Finance Ministry spokeswoman Jeanette Schwamberger
emphasized at a regular government press conference.
The restructuring measures for HRE foresee a shift of assets to a
clearing institute and a further strengthening of capital in the second
half of 2010, the Ministry reminded on Friday.
Schwamberger said Monday that Germany’s state governments had
already committed themselves before the stress tests to undertake a
further consolidation of the state-owned regional banks (Landesbanken).
“We have the firm expectation that this will happen,” she said.
On the question if the stress tests should be repeated
periodically, the Ministry will first wait for recommendations from the
respective supervisory authorities on the national and European level,
Schwamberger explained.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22620580; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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