Germany’s Merz aims to slash red tape on banks to boost economy, sources say

By Andreas Rinke and Tom Sims

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will push for deregulation in Europe’s banking sector, four people familiar with his thinking said, his latest effort to spur growth in the continent’s largest economy.

Germany’s financial industry has for years complained about the burden of regulation and a resulting loss in market share to banks outside Europe and will welcome Merz’ commitment to champion the issue both with his left-leaning Social Democrat coalition partners and other European governments.

Much banking regulation on the continent is carried out at European Union level and the bloc has been debating whether to follow the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back rules put in place after the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, with some