Whe security of bank deposits is a question that has been asked more frequently since the turbulence surrounding Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse. Now the European Commission wants to make bank processing in Europe more uniform, which is right. What is wrong, however, is that it wants to access funds from deposit insurance. Savings banks and Volksbanks fear disaster because they could lose control of their institutional security. This is an important asset for them, with which they can capitalize on the competition.
Because they promise their customers complete deposit protection, in which every stumbling member institute within their group is absorbed. This institutional guarantee has long been a thorn in the side of Brussels and the supervisors of the European Central Bank (ECB) because it stands in the way of a uniform European deposit guarantee. This would only be acceptable if it offered added value to every country. That is not the case as long as the safety pots in other countries are still less full than in Germany.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) did the right thing last week when he sent a letter of protest to the Commission. Crisis management must be unified, but not at the price of a unified deposit insurance system through the back door. The protection of German savers must not be sacrificed for the sake of the banking union.