Those of Deutsche Bank AG DB CEO Christian Sewing warned that China is a significant risk for Germany and that Europe needs big banks to fend off competition from US banks. Reuters reported.
Sewing added that Germany “will be unable to avoid a recession” after becoming too dependent on Russian energy.
At a banking conference in Frankfurt, Sewing said Europe had learned how dangerous it was to be “too dependent on individual countries or regions”.
He also said Germany must now face the “thorny issue” of how to deal with China given its “increasing isolation and growing tensions.”
“Reducing that dependency requires a change no less fundamental than decoupling from Russian energy,” Sewing said.
UniCredit SpA UNCFF Chief Executive Andrea Orcel added to economic concerns that Europe was facing a “relatively shallow” recession, followed by a recovery in 2024 or later.
He agreed that European banks were lacking in size and that consolidation would eventually occur.
“In banking, size matters – and if we don’t want to leave the playing field to the Americans, Europe needs to create the right environment for big banks,” he said.
“American bank dominance is not a law of nature,” he added. According to UniCredit’s Orcel, “too much” domestic consolidation is not good as it does not create “financial services” to support the economy.
Price promotion: DB shares are down 2.07% to $8.06 during the premarket session last check Wednesday.
Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
