3rd Quarter
July
1.7. – Michael Schleef takes over at HSBC Germany. The head of the Mittelstand business succeeds investment banker Nicolo Salsano.
4.7. – The Monopolies Commission, advising the German government on competition matters, recommends splitting up Deutsche Bahn.
5.7. – The Bank of England responds to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Foreign banks in the City will now have to operate as subsidiaries instead of branches.
6.7. – The final tranche for funding the European Resolution Fund is due. According to SRB, European institutions will have to contribute a total of 11.3 billion euros in 2023.
6.7. – The German Bundestag strengthens the Federal Cartel Office in tackling companies' harmful practices toward consumers. The office receives new powers, including the ability to break up corporations.
7.7. – Thyssenkrupp Nucera succeeds in its stock market debut. The stock gains nearly 18% on the first trading day.
7.7. – Chinese tech giant Ant Group is fined 7.1 billion yuan (900 million euros) for violations related to consumer protection, payment system regulations, and anti-money laundering rules.
10.7. – As a successor to the EU-US Privacy Shield invalidated by the EU Court of Justice, the EU Commission decides on a new data protection framework with the USA.
11.7. – Hackers steal customer data from Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, and ING Diba.
13.7. – Following failed negotiations with the major US film studios, Hollywood actors are going on strike.
13.7. – Shortly after being promoted to the board, Claudio de Sanctis radically restructures Deutsche Bank's retail business. Wealth management and private banking in Germany are merged under the leadership of Lars Stoy.
14.7. – Remote work is here to stay, impacting the commercial real estate market. According to the Ifo Institute, office rents have plummeted by 40% in the first half of the year.
15.7. – The path is cleared for the separation of dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care from the Fresenius Group. FMC shareholders approve the necessary change into a joint-stock company with broad majority support.
18.7. – The Euro reaches its year high against the Greenback at 1.1275 dollars.
19.7. – Henriette Peucker leaves the Association of German Banks.
22.7. – Due to prolonged order weakness, the German Chemical Industry Association lowers its forecast for 2023 and is expecting a significant production decline.
24.7. – Bayer shocks investors: The decline in glyphosate prices not only affects the operational results of the crop science division but also leads to billion-dollar write-offs.
24.7. – Microblogging service Twitter, under X Corp, changes its logo to an "X."
26.7. – Crisis-hit US regional banks Pacwest and Banc of California merge and receive a capital injection from private equity investors.
26.7. – Helaba grants the city of Frankfurt a leasehold on a piece of land for the planned cultural district, including the construction of the Frankfurt Theater and Opera.
27.7. – Thales announces the acquisition of US company Imperva for 3.6 billion dollars.
28.7. – Eurozone's major banks prove resilient against an economic downturn in the ECB's stress test.
August
2.8. – Raiffeisen Bank International fails to exit Russia. The Austrians postpone the decision until the year's end.
2.8. – Fitch downgrades the top credit rating of the USA.
8.8. – Months after the US banking upheaval, Moody's downgrades ten US regional banks and places six major banks on the watchlist.
8.8. – Chipmaker TSMC plans to build a semiconductor factory in Dresden. The plant will be constructed jointly with Bosch, Infineon, and NXP.
9.8. – Consumer prices in China declined in July, leading to deflation.
9.8. – Italy announces an "excess profit tax" for banks, to capitalize on revenue from increased interest rates.
15.8. – The Italian Agnelli investor family enters the medical technology firm Philips. Through their investment company Exor, the Fiat founding family acquires a 15% minority stake for around 2.6 billion euros.
18.8. – Austrian entrepreneur Stefan Pierer becomes the sole owner of the Nuremberg-based automotive supplier Leoni, which was restructured under the Company Stabilization and Restructuring Act. Minority shareholders are no longer part of it after a radical capital cut.
22.8. – The Chinese central bank attempts monetary measures to counter the real estate crisis. The impact is limited as commercial banks do not pass on the interest rate cut.
24.8. – At the conclusion of the BRICS summit, it's decided to include Argentina, Egypt,Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in 2024.
24.8. – The Turkish central bank unexpectedly raises the key interest rate to 25% due to high inflation.
31.8. – UBS announces plans to fully acquire Credit Suisse and aims to save more than 10 billion dollars in costs by the end of 2026.
September
4.9. – Public reprimand from BaFin for Deutsche Bank due to a high number of customer complaints following the integration of Postbank IT into Deutsche Bank's systems.
7.9. – Klaus Keysberg, CFO of Thyssenkrupp, announces his resignation effective July 2024.
8.9. – Covestro's supervisory board paves the way for open-ended discussions with Adnoc.
10.9. – The G20 summit admits the African Union as a new member.
14.9. – Thyssenkrupp ends the era of Martina Merz. The individual segments are being restructured.
14.9. – British chip designer Arm, owned by Japanese investor Softbank, is taken public in New York. The IPO performs less impressively than anticipated.
20.9. – The EU plans to investigate Chinese exports of electric cars, sparking fears of a trade conflict with the People's Republic, particularly in the German automotive industry.
21.9. – Christian Sewing and other managers at Deutsche Bank publicly apologize for the service debacle at Postbank.
26.9. – Airbus decides on a restructuring of its top management: the most important aircraft construction segment will have its own CEO, Christian Scherer, starting from January 1, 2024.
27.9. – Brent oil price hits its year high of 96.60 dollars per barrel.
28.9. – The yield on ten-year German government bonds reaches its highest point of the year at 2.97%.
28.9. – The Italian government announces plans to gradually re-privatize Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), which has been majority-state-owned. The rescue of the troubled bank has cost taxpayers at least 8.5 billion euros.
