Deutsche Bank CEO: Germany Needs ‘Structural Reforms’ to Boost Economic Growth

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said Wednesday that German businesses need less regulation, a more competitive corporate tax structure and greater certainty on energy prices.

Speaking at a Financial Times (FT) global banking summit in London, Sewing said: “We clearly need certain structural reforms,” the FT reported Wednesday.

These moves would help Germany’s economy return to its earlier growth rate, Sewing said.

The country’s economy has been stagnant since 2021, according to the report.

Germany’s ruling coalition is facing discontent, and there is an election set for February, the report said.

Sewing said he was confident the economy would “find its way back to growth.”

“It’s time to change, but I think a lot of people have understood that change is needed,” Sewing said, per the report. “And never forget, the underlying strength of corporates in Germany is still there, [there is] a lot of resilience.”

Deutsche Bank saw 5% year-over-year growth in net revenues during the third quarter, with its Investment Bank business leading the way with 11% growth.

In prepared remarks for the bank’s Oct. 23 earnings call, Sewing attributed the Investment Bank business’ gains to “the ongoing commitment and focus of our business and coverage teams in supporting our clients.”

It was reported Nov. 26 that Deutsche Bank is benefiting from uncertainty surrounding a possible takeover of rival Commerzbank, which is the target of a potential merger with Italy’s UniCredit, and that the bank has in the last 18 months benefited from the merger of UBS Group and Credit Suisse.

Commerzbank customers are increasingly turning to Deutsche Bank for funding, Jan-Philipp Gillmann, head of Deutsche Bank’s German/European corporate banking division, said at an event in Frankfurt, Bloomberg News reported Nov. 26.

Sewing said Wednesday that he declined to comment on UniCredit’s potential takeover bid for Commerzbank but said that consolidation in the European banking sector was a “logical trend” and that there is a need for greater progress on creating a European banking union.

“We need to have a more harmonized regulation,” Sewing said, according to the FT report. “We need to actually lay the foundation in order to allow for more consolidation, and that has not yet fully happened.”