The Local Germany

Bad bank finds €56 bln after checking sums

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:20:00 +0200

German national debt has been slashed by nearly €56 billion at a stroke, after the books were checked at the ‘bad bank’ of the nationalised Hypo Real Estate (HRE).

US prosecutors: Deutsche Bank was aware of mortgage fraud

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:52:00 +0200

Germany's Deutsche Bank was aware of fraud being committed by a US subsidiary that issued thousands of bad mortgages before the 2008 financial crisis, US prosecutors have alleged.

Lone Star aiming to sell subprime victim IKB

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 13:29:00 +0200

US investment fund Lone Star has begun the process of selling the German bank IKB, the country's first financial crisis victim, which Lone Star bought in 2008, an executive said Wednesday in an interview.

Another €2.08 billion pumped into HRE bank

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:47:00 +0200

Germany will pump another €2.08 billion ($2.79 billion) into the troubled bank Hypo Real Estate, the financial market stabilisation fund SoFFin said Wednesday in a statement.

HRE bonus payments a 'scandal,' taxpayers' group says

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:02:00 +0200

Germany’s taxpayers’ association (BdSt) on Monday attacked generous bonus payments for bankers at the nationalised Hypo Real Estate bank, calling them a “scandal.”

Nationalised HRE bank gets another €40 billion

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 11:38:00 +0200

Germany's troubled Hypo Real Estate bank, which last year narrowly avoided bankruptcy before being nationalised, will get another €40 billion in state guarantees, a government agency said on Friday.

Prosecutors drop investigation of 'Germany's stupidest bankers'

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:12:00 +0200

German prosecutors said Tuesday they had dropped a probe into six bankers from state-owned KfW for transferring some €320 million ($408 million) to Lehman Brothers after it had collapsed.

Merkel aims to strengthen Bafin bank regulator

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:46:00 +0200

German Chancellor Angela Merkel would give the nation's banking supervisor extensive powers over struggling banks, including the capacity to dismiss executives, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

Berlin approves public 'bad bank' bill

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:36:00 +0200

The German cabinet approved draft legislation Wednesday that would take risky assets from state-owned regional banks and group them in a "bad bank" in exchange for a serious slimming down of the Landesbanken.

Germany moves to nationalise Hypo Real Estate

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:41:00 +0200

Shareholders in the troubled German bank Hypo Real Estate approved late Tuesday a nearly €3-billion capital increase to be subscribed by the state, one of the last steps in total nationalisation by Berlin.

Verheugen slams German banks for risky investments

Mon, 18 May 2009 18:51:00 +0200

Germany's representative in the European Commission launched a sharp attack on his own country's banks on Monday, saying they had been "world champions" in investing in risky financial products.

Berlin hammers out 'bad bank' plan

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:58:00 +0200

Germany has struck a broad agreement on a plan to clean up toxic assets from banks' balance sheets, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück said Tuesday after a crunch meeting with key government leaders.

Germany starts Hypo Real Estate takeover bid

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:42:00 +0200

Germany launched Friday its bid to nationalise troubled mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), offering to buy 100 percent of the firm's shares at what it termed an "attractive price."

HRE bank gets €12 bln more in guarantees

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:35:00 +0100

The German state will provide another €12 billion ($15 billion) in guarantees to struggling Hypo Real Estate bank, bringing the total to €42 billion, HRE announced late Tuesday evening.

WestLB to seek €10 billion in state aid

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:20:00 +0100

German state-owned regional bank WestLB is to seek government guarantees worth at least €10 billion under a rescue scheme, the daily Rheinische Post

Hypo Real Estate expects heavy charges

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:33:00 +0100

German property lender Hypo Real Estate expects to suffer heavy charges in 2009 after flirting with bankruptcy this year, the bank said in a statement on Monday.

Hypo Real Estate posts €3.1 billion Q3 loss

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:13:00 +0100

German property lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE) posted on Wednesday a third-quarter net loss of €3.1 billion ($3.89 billion) and said it expected more bad news by the end of the year.

Hypo Real Estate gets first cash injection

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:08:00 +0100

Troubled German property lender Hypo Real Estate has obtained a €15 billion ($19.3 billion) state loan guarantee under the government rescue plan for the banking sector, a spokesman said late on Thursday.

Germany slashes 2009 growth forecast

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:17:00 +0200

The German government on Thursday slashed its growth forecast for 2009 – the world’s third largest economy is now only expected to expand by a meagre 0.2 percent next year.

Munich Re boss warns German banks still under threat

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:47:00 +0200

The international financial crisis could claim more victims among German banks, the head of re-insurance giant Munich Re warned.