ReleaseWire Connect

As of December 2021, corporate criminal law, with an emphasis on compliance and rules for internal investigations, has been pushed back to the top of the agenda in Germany. The coalition agreement created by Germany's prospective new government sets out ways in which the new administration is intending to reform the current system of corporate criminal law. It's likely that this will be a revision of already existing regulations on corporate sanctions in the Administrative Offences Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as other provisions.

2022 marks 10 years of Bentley Financial Services in Germany, the specialised tailor-made financing and vehicle insurance team of experts supporting Bentley partners across the country. Compared to 2012, Bentley has now been able to triple the volume of Bentley leasing and finance agreements in Germany, significantly expanding the business' influence in this part of Europe. Leasing and financing contracts have become popular as they represent the opportunity for planning security and also open the door to a degree of financial flexibility.

The past year has been a difficult time for those in the financial services industry. Even burgeoning areas such as fintech have faced challenges. Germany's N26 digital bank is one of those that has had to remain flexible in the face of change as the year has continued. Almost two and a half years ago N26 launched its operations in America but as of November this year the digital bank announced that it was scaling back and shutting down its base in the US. There are currently 500,000 N26 customers in America and, as of January 2022, those customers will no longer be able to access the digital bank's app. At its most recent funding round, N26 - which is based in Berlin - was valued at $9 billion. Nevertheless, the bank's exit from the US follows on from it leaving the UK market earlier this year, something that N26 blamed on Brexit.

While the European energy crisis has caused a lot of issues for suppliers and consumers there are some who have found a way to profit from the challenging situation. In particular, hedge funds that ventured into natural gas and German electricity have done incredibly well - one shooting up by 40%. Shortage fears have been behind the significant increase in gas prices in recent months - some funds that were able to make sizable moves in European electricity have seen profits soar.

With COP26 currently under way, sustainability and climate commitments are at the top of the agenda. There are some clear challenges for European banks when it comes to changing the way that existing investments are managed to funnel resources towards more sustainable choices. This is something that has been highlighted by a recent report that revealed that many well-known European banks, including HSBC, BNP Paris and Deutsche Bank are still investing tens of millions of Euros in firms that are involved in deforestation.

Consolidation in the European banking sector is something that has become a hot topic since the start of the year. Deutsche Bank's Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke said in a speech over the summer that the German bank sees the logic in the need for mergers and acquisitions in the sector in Europe, and also that the current job at hand is to prepare for that outcome.

Digitisation is something that remains an uphill struggle for many institutions in the banking and financial services sector. Now, Bundesbank has set out to highlight that this could be a specific challenge for German banks as part of its regular monthly report. The institution warned that the fast pace of technological innovation has the potential to create difficult situations for many banks in the German sector.

Funds from private and institutional investors in the EU and UK are totalling €13.6 trillion according to the European Central Bank, with an additional €3.2 trillion in assets. The largest market for UCITS and AIFs is Germany, claiming 23% of the share, followed closely by Italy. This highlights Germany as an incredibly attractive investment market within Europe. Overseas fund companies are even more enticed by the German and Italian markets when cross-border business in concerned, with a total of 68% of foreign fund assets launched attributed to Germany and Italy.

The size and scope of the compliance role has grown significantly over the previous decade. Major financial institutions have made significant investments in the area, creating a plethora of possibilities for compliance professionals. Fighting financial crime, preventing money laundering, and putting an end to human and animal trafficking are just a few of the high-profile, important objectives that compliance professionals work toward. The financial services industry is at the forefront of these issues. Because criminals must leverage the financial system to carry out their crimes, financial institutions, such as banks, are virtually the vanguard in combating wrongdoing.

German institutional investors may open up another frontier for Bitcoin investment, continuing a recent trend in which more and more organisations are looking for opportunities in the industry.