Cracks in the pillars

摘要

Caricatures may exaggerate, but they contain a lot of truth. So it is with the well-worn picture of Germany's banking market: too many banks making too little money. In all, Germany has more than 2,200 credit institutions, 30% of the European Union's total. And it has already got rid of a fair few: as recently as 1997 it had nearly 3,600. Britain, despite London's importance as a financial centre, has only 420. Germany's five biggest banks account for just 20% of total assets in that country, compared with 80% or so in Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands. Germany has about 60 bank branches for every 100,000 people; Britain, Finland, Ireland and Sweden have at most 25. The German banking system has three "pillars". Private-sector banks are in a minority, whether measured by number or by market share. The four biggest-Deut-sche Bank, HVB Group, Dresdner Bank (owned by Allianz, the country's biggest insurance company) and Commerzbank-may be well known outside Germany, but in their home market they are minnows, with just 4.5% of savings deposits.