NewsBite

Commerzbank

August

Negotiated wages in Germany are expected to shoot up by 5.6 per cent in 2024, based on deals agreed between January and June.

Eurozone rate cut questioned as German wages soar

Not all rate-setters are convinced that the ECB will manage to avoid what bank president Christine Lagarde has referred to as “tit-for-tat inflation”.

  • Olaf Storbeck

December 2023

Fruit shopping in a German supermarket. The annual inflation rate slowed to 2.4 per cent in November.

Slowing inflation piles pressure on central banks to pivot

Some policymakers are already warning that by waiting too long to cut borrowing costs, central banks could harm weakening economies.

  • Martin Arnold, Sam Fleming and Colby Smith

March 2023

“Investor optimism was given a band-aid assurance by EU and UK regulators, while corporates also rushed in to restore optimism,” said Jessica Amir, a market strategist at Saxo Capital Markets.

Riskiest bank bonds rise as regulators’ assurances resonate

AT1 notes from Europe’s biggest banks including Commerzbank, HSBC and UniCredit climbed in Asia, where bonds including from Westpac were quoted higher.

  • Priscila Azevedo Rocha, Harry Suhartono, Sujata Rao and Caleb Mutua

December 2022

Former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun

Wirecard in the dock as Germany’s biggest fraud trial starts

Wirecard became the first-ever DAX member to file for insolvency, owing creditors nearly $US4 billion.

  • Updated
  • Jörn Poltz and Christian Kraemer
Relief in response to the first prospective slowdown in US inflation was palpable.

Wall Street’s Christmas relief rally faces big tests

Jay Powell’s comments lifted investor sentiment but the impact of a long-anticipated US economic downturn looms.

  • Katie Martin
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October 2022

Kwasi Kwarteng nd the British government appeared to be preparing to make BoE chief Andrew Bailey a scapegoat.

Kwasi Kwarteng says BoE will be to blame for any UK market ructions

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings in Washington, the chancellor said any turmoil after the central bank withdraws support ‘is a matter for the governor’.

  • Philip Aldrick
Credit Suisse may need more capital or lower risk-weighted assets.

Credit Suisse terrifies investors with its message of reassurance

Attempts to restore calm can be spectacularly unsettling. They imply that someone somewhere thinks the business is in serious trouble.

  • Updated
  • The Lex Column

September 2022

Base metal prices have suffered as investors fear an economic slowdown will hit demand.

Industrial metal prices melt as global recession fears flare up

Copper and iron ore are back under pressure on worries over high-energy costs and China strains.

  • Harry Dempsey and Emiko Terazono

July 2022

Robert Habeck

Germany braces for winter of discontent as energy crisis bites

Berlin and Moscow are locked in a war of nerves over the future of Russian gas supplies, as key data paint a sobering picture for Europe’s powerhouse economy.

  • Andrew McCathie

October 2021

An electronics factory in Zhangye in north-western China. China’s factory activity growth slowed for the fifth consecutive month in August.

China’s falling factory activity a sign of economic woes ahead

Manufacturing activity contracted by more than expected in October, hurt by persistently high raw material prices and softer domestic demand.

  • Reuters

May 2021

Skyscrapers rising next to vacant towers mark new City of London

While the pandemic is emptying offices at the fastest pace in more than a decade, it hasn’t slowed the coming wave of high-rises.

  • Jack Sidders

October 2020

People walk by chairs and tables of an empty terrace in the historical centre of Antwerp, Belgium, which has just announced the closure of all bars and cafés for four weeks.

Europe’s second wave raises threat of double-dip recession

Rising coronavirus infections and fresh restrictions on people’s movements could cut short the region’s recent recovery.

  • Updated
  • Martin Arnold

September 2020

Because of EY's role as Wirecard's auditor, there is a possible conflict of interest, since many of its German clients were investors in the online payments company and will try to recoup their investments.

Wirecard woes mount for EY as clients cut auditor

KfW, Germany's third-largest bank by assets, may drop auditor plagued by its role in accounting scandal.

  • Hugo Miller and Birgit Jennen

June 2020

Markus Braun has been arrested on suspicion of falsifying Wirecard's accounts.

Former Wirecard boss arrested as creditors hunt lost billions

Markus Braun turned himself in on Monday night after Munich prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest.

  • Jörn Poltz, Patricia Uhlig and Arno Schuetze
A stall holder serves a customer on a fruit and vegetable stall at the market in Norwich, UK. The country is on course for deep recession.

Wild guesses as UK economists grapple with looming GDP plunge

For once, economists are united on one thing: official data on Friday will show that Britain's economy suffered a record collapse during April's coronavirus lockdown.

  • Andy Bruce
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April 2020

The Frankfurt financial district. Some economists expect the European economy to decline by more than 10 per cent  in the first half of this year.

European banks prepared for a crisis. But not this one

Before bank regulators could begin their planned stress test this year, they were confronted with the real thing.

  • Jack Ewing

March 2020

German banks are on a warning about dividends and buybacks.

Germany urges banks to hold off dividends and bonuses

Regulators have recently enacted measures to make it easier for banks to lend and to absorb losses as economic crisis looms.

  • Tom Sims

April 2019

Deutsche Bank has stumbled from one crisis to another in recent years.

Deutsche Bank pulls plug on merger plans with rival Commerzbank

The merger would have combined Germany's two biggest banks into a European giant but it wasn't meant to be.

  • Andreas Framke and Arno Schuetze

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/company/commerzbank-ag-1mvc