Deutsche Bank CEO warns of recession, China and US banks

The logo of Germany’s Deutsche Bank is displayed ahead of the bank’s annual shareholder meeting in Frankfurt, Germany May 23, 2019. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

FRANKFURT, Sept 7 (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) boss Christian Sewing, painting a bleaker picture of the German economy, warned on Wednesday that China posed a considerable risk to the country and that the Europe needed the big banks to fend off the United States. competitors.

Sewing, speaking at a conference in Frankfurt, said Germany “would no longer be able to avoid a recession”.

He said the country now faces the “delicate issue” of dealing with China, given its “increasing isolation and rising tensions”.

“Reducing this dependence will require a change no less fundamental than decoupling Russian energy,” Sewing said.

Sewing renewed calls for a possible transversal banking consolidation in Europe.

“Size matters in banking – and if we don’t want to cede the playing field to the Americans, Europe needs to create the right conditions for big banks,” he said.

“The dominance of American banks is not a law of nature,” he added.

Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz Editing by Paul Carrel

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