Financial regulator sees stormy waters ahead for Germany

The logo of Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin (Bundesanstalt fuer Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) is pictured outside an office building of the BaFin in Bonn, Germany, April 15, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

BERLIN, July 13 (Reuters) – Germany’s financial sector is facing an uncertain future amid the energy dispute with Russia, the head of the country’s financial regulator BaFin said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday.

“I do not see an acute short-term threat to financial stability – but ask me again in three to six months. Then things may look different,” BaFin president Mark Branson told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

He warned that an energy crisis would impact the entire German economy, as fears mount that Russia could throttle its gas exports to the country even further.

“The state cannot absorb it all,” Branson said.

The financial watchdog chief pointed to banks struggling with loan defaults but said that for now the financial system was robust.

“Banks have much more capital than they used to as a loss buffer.”

Writing by Rachel More, editing by Kirsti Knolle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.