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Banks’ bad assets could top €816 billion

A secret paper by German regulators estimates that Germany’s top banks may have up to €816 billion worth of bad loans on their books, the magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

Banks' bad assets could top €816 billion
Photo: DPA

According to the report, issued by financial regulator Bafin, Germany’s state-owned Landesbanken have €355 billion of troublesome items on the books, including €180 billion worth of so-called ‘toxic assets’ and €175 billion worth of assets that are currently illiquid, due to the worldwide credit crunch. The troubled HSH Landesbank accounts for €100 billion of the troubled Landesbanken assets.

Hypo Real Estate, the Munich property lender that has already received €100 billion worth of guarantees and capital from the German government, has €268 billion worth of troubled assets, according to the Bafin report cited by Der Spiegel.

Private banks, including Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, account for an additional €139 billion of troubled assets, including €53 billion worth of toxic assets and €86 billion worth of illiquid assets. Deutsche Bank does not appear to have any toxic assets, according to the report.

The Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken, which operate on a cooperative model, hold about €54 billion worth of troubled assets, €25 billion of which are toxic assets and €29 billion of which are currently illiquid.

A Bafin spokesman warned that the sums were easily open to false interpretation and needed to be evaluated with great care. Portions of the sums included state deposits with “extremely minimal” risk, the spokesman said.

Bafin has engaged the Munich prosecutor’s office to investigate how the highly sensitive information was leaked to both Der Spiegel and the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, which first released excerpts of the report on Friday.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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