The savings banks in eastern Germany refuse DekaBank, in which they hold around a tenth of the shares, to set up a central institution for the financial group.
This is reported by the Bloomberg news agency, citing a conversation with Michael Ermrich, President of the East German Savings Banks Association.
As a securities house, DekaBank does not have to become part of a central institution, but should continue to exist as an independent pillar alongside a central institution, said Ermrich.
In the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, efforts are being made to dismantle duplicate structures, especially among the Landesbanken, some of which offer identical services. Helmut Schleweis, as President of the German Savings Banks and Giro Association, proposed a merger of Helaba and DekaBank, although Deka primarily offers funds and its business model differs from that of the Landesbanken. At the beginning of last year, Deka and Helaba started initial talks about a merger, but these are currently on hold due to the corona pandemic.
In addition to the role of Deka, the ownership structure of the Landesbanken is also an obstacle, as the federal states also hold large shares in some cases and the savings banks do not want to have them among their owners. Ermrich is betting that the federal states can be bought out of the Landesbanken.