|
Greece's international creditors refused to extend the country's
bailout in talks at the weekend, prompting savers to queue to
withdraw cash from the country's beleaguered banks and taking
Athens' standoff to a dangerous new level.
"We are very well-prepared because we've been anticipating a
situation like this for a long time," said a spokesman for
Germany's second biggest lender, Commerzbank <CBKG.DE>.
The Athens stock exchange will also be closed on Monday as the
government tries to manage the financial fallout of the
disagreement with the European Union and the International
Monetary Fund.
Germany's biggest lender, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, said it felt
well-prepared and was keeping a close eye on developments.
"Deutsche Bank has sufficient safety mechanisms in place to
safeguard its business activities as well as those of its
clients," it said in a statement that was also echoed by DZ
Bank, the lender at the center of Germany's cooperative banking
system.
Most large banks have established working groups to plan around
scenarios of government and bank insolvencies, which can cause
rapid collateral damage to other financial market players if for
example, funds are transferred to a suddenly insolvent
counter-party.
Banks have also been holding regular telephone conferences and
conducting dry runs to make sure their systems are running
properly, said a risk manager at a large German bank.
Dutch banks such as ING <ING.AS> and ABN AMRO are also seen as
well-prepared.
ABN Amro spokesman Jeroen van Maarschalkerweerd said the focus
was on anticipating what may happen and quickly advising the
bank's clients.
"Risk management is part of our business," he said.
"Thinking about scenarios is what we do, and we are prepared."
(Reporting by Jonathan Gould, Kathrin Jones, Alexander Huebner
in Frankfurt and Toby Sterling in Amsterdam)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
