Since the partial deregulation of the German capital markets six
months ago, investment bankers from the US, Japan and the UK have been
busy trying to sell their products in Germany.
Not only foreigners, but German financial institutions trying to
provide new services, have found it hard. The German banks continue to
dominate German corporate finance, and will be very hard to budge.
It's not just a matter of the banks' extensive
shareholdings in German industry or the bankers on the companies'
supervisory boards - issues that have recently been raised in the German
Press - but also of long-standing relationships and a conservative
attitude of many corporate treasurers, an attitude bolstered by their
businesses' prosperity. Since deregulation, it has been mainly
foreign Deutschemark fund-raisers who have been trying out new ideas.
Take Euro-commercial paper and Euronote facilities. So far, only
seven West German companies have launched facilities. ...
