"There was never more to do," quoted Christian Ossig, managing director of the Association of German Banks, the election posters of a party that, according to recent surveys, could get between 11 and 13 percent of the vote on Sunday.

With the quote he set a mental framework for the discussion event on the future of Germany as a financial location and the future financing of the economy, which followed his introduction.

Because according to the party, whose core program includes the transforming power of free markets, most of those present at the event want the German financing market to be unleashed apart from traditional bank loans.

Gregor Brunner

Editor in business.

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Joachim Wuermeling, member of the board of directors of the Bundesbank, summed up the problem from the perspective of financial stability in an initial speech: 80 percent of financing in Germany is done through banks. The upcoming challenges of transformations and innovations, be it in the dimensions of sustainability, digitization or reconstruction after Corona, require a greater risk appetite and a longer-term expectation of the profitability of the participation, which banks cannot map on the basis of existing financing models.

Bettina Orlopp, member of the Board of Management of Commerzbank, replied that many banks are now dealing with this issue, even if it is difficult for them. One of the means chosen by many companies is the establishment of venture capital funds for start-ups and innovation financing. Unlike them, Oliver Behrens, Germany boss at Morgan Stanley, sees not only banks but also the state and private investors as having an obligation to support the transformation. This would require a cultural change to take place and an awareness to arise that trading in the capital market is not a speculation, but a long-term participation. The state could encourage and accompany such a development.

Hesse's State Secretary for Finance, Martin Worms, cited a funded pension as a central topic in the coming legislative period, which could familiarize private individuals with the opportunities offered by equity capital.

Banks were not left out in the process.

According to Sascha Steffen from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, they would have to take on a strong advisory role in order to enable institutional and private investors to act on their own initiative.

It would be the basis for what Wuermeling describes as possibly the greatest challenge and opportunity since the financial crisis.