Deutsche Bank’s Fitschen Sees Need for European Regulator

Juergen Fitschen, the co-chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), said he’s “generally” in favor of a banking union and a European banking regulator as the current system dominated by national interests is not sustainable.

“In general we are in favor of a banking union, but our current problems will not be solved by it,” Fitschen said at a conference today in Frankfurt. “The banking crisis in Spain would not be solved by a European regulator.”

Before a summit in Brussels this month, European leaders like Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande have focused on the idea of a banking union that would include a single European regulator, euro-wide deposit insurance and a common bank resolution fund. The ideas are aimed at preventing banking crises in the future and protecting taxpayers from having to foot the bill for bank bailouts.

There are many unanswered questions on the way toward an European regulator overseeing the biggest European banks, Fitschen said. Regulators should keep in mind that European banks need to stay globally competitive, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Annette Weisbach in Frankfurt at aweisbach1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net