By Christian Kraemer and Maria Martinez
WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) -German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel both backed Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s call for a European stock exchange to support European companies and growth.
“That would certainly be a sensible step when it comes to advancing the capital markets union,” Klingbeil said, referring to EU efforts to create a unified market for capital. He added the stock exchange proposal deserves “full support.”
Nagel, speaking on a panel with Klingbeil on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington on Friday, said it would send a strong signal in support of Europe as a business location.
“I think it’s an interesting idea, an intriguing proposal,” Nagel said, although both noted that in the end creating such an exchange was a decision for companies. “Others are in the driver’s seat — these are entrepreneurial decisions,” Nagel said.
KLINGBEIL REJECTS US-STYLE BANKING DEREGULATION
Apart from Merz’ proposal on stock market integration, the financial policy makers also discussed the chancellor’s push for deregulation in Europe’s banking sector.
“We certainly won’t go along in Germany and Europe with this deregulation craze that now seems to be developing here in the United States,” Klingbeil said. “But it’s also clear that we have to look very closely at where there is actually too much bureaucracy, including in the banking sector.”
Nagel said that “great caution” must always be exercised when deregulating banks, otherwise problems could quickly arise, as is currently the case with some U.S. regional banks.
Europe had achieved a great deal in the supervision of banks since the global financial crisis of 2008, with banks now much more robust and crisis‑resistant, he said.
“It would be downright absurd to give that up in any way,” Nagel said.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Toby Chopra)
