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John
Cryan's remarks will likely spur further discussion about the
future of the struggling bank, although he was quick to throw
cold water on reports that Deutsche examined a merger with
Commerzbank - which is partly owned by the German state.
Criticizing what he called the "scattered regionalism among
banks", Cryan said: "We need more mergers, at a national level,
but even also across national borders."
Asked if he sees the time coming back when Deutsche will engage
in large takeovers, he said "not any time soon".
Profits across Europe's banks have been generally sinking, as
economic growth remains at a low ebb, interest rates stay at
rock bottom and the task of sifting through billions of euros of
risky loans continues.
German banks, in particular, have struggled as the European
Central Bank prints ever more fresh money and makes it more
expensive for lenders to hoard cash.
"If we look at Germany in particular, it hasn't gone through
that wave of consolidation like Spain has, Italy seems to be
moving in that direction and France has been through it," Cryan
said.
"In Germany there are in my view just too many banks."
But he also singled out the ECB for criticism. "The side effects
of these policies are now becoming more and more apparent."
"It’s not only the banks that suffer. There are also disastrous
consequences for savers and their pension investments."
At the end of last month, Deutsche was shown to be weaker than
many of its peers in European Union stress tests that ranked it
tenth from the bottom of 51 lenders.
(Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
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