4th Quarter
October
3.10. – The House of Representatives – for the first time in U.S. history – following a vote of no confidence by Representative Matt Gaetz, removes a Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.
3.10. – German financial regulatory BaFin authority sends a special envoy to Deutsche Bank due to ongoing service issues.
3.10. – The Euro drops to its lowest level of the year at $1.0449.
5.10. – Renk cancels its IPO at the last minute.
7.10. – The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision draws conclusions from the banking crisis in the spring. Regulatory authorities are urged to be more agile and not rely solely on metrics, according to its final report.
7.10. – Hamas surprises Israel with a terrorist attack, resulting in more than 1,200 casualties and escalating into a war.
8.10. – State elections in Bavaria and Hesse: The coalition of CSU with Free Voters is renewed in Bavaria. In Hesse, the strengthened CDU faction forms a coalition with the SPD, not with the Greens as before.
9.10. – The Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is awarded to Claudia Goldin for "improving our understanding of women's labour market outcomes."
9.10. – Schaeffler announces its intention to acquire Vitesco.
11.10. – Birkenstock's IPO flops in New York, with the stock losing nearly 13% on the first day.
14.10. - European banks protest against the dispute initiated by ECB Council member Robert Holzmann over increasing the minimum reserve held at the ECB from 1% to 5 to 10%. The decision alone not to remunerate the minimum reserve costs European banks 6.6 billion euros on a 12-month horizon, according to Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing.
16.10. – Atos Chairman Bertrand Meunier resigns after some controversy and is replaced by former Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier. The struggling IT service provider simultaneously postpones the contentious sale of its sluggish traditional business to Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky.
18.10. – After a two-year examination, the ECB prepares to introduce the digital Euro.
19.10. – The yield on ten-year US Treasuries reaches its year high of 4.99%.
23.10. – Several Left Party members around Sahra Wagenknecht, announce their departure to form a new group.
23.10. – Christiane Benner is elected as the first woman to chair the trade union IG Metall.
24.10. – Frankfurt Volksbank continues its expansion. In 2024, the institution aims to become the largest cooperative bank in the country through the acquisition of Volksbank Aschaffenburg.
25.10. – Around three weeks after McCarthy's removal, Mike Johnson becomes the new Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
26.10. – In the US automotive industry wage dispute, an agreement is reached with some substantial salary increases, up to a maximum of 33%.
26.10. – Siemens Energy confirms preliminary discussions with the German government about state guarantees in the billions after days of speculation.
November
1.11. – Renault officially establishes a separate company for its electric vehicle and software division, Ampère, which is set to go public in 2024.
2.11. – CVC abandons plans for an IPO in Amsterdam.
3.11. – Following Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank also receives a consumer protection reprimand from BaFin. The authority criticizes the delayed issuance of tax certificates.
6.11. – German AI hopeful Aleph Alpha receives a $500 million financial injection from a consortium including Bosch and Lidl. Founder and CEO Jonas Andrulis intends to "go full throttle" with this funding.
7.11. – Wework files for bankruptcy.
9.11. – The Hollywood actors' union reaches a new agreement with US studios.
10.11. – The price decline in the German real estate market accelerates. According to VDP, residential property prices fell by 1.7% and office property prices by 2.5% in the third quarter. In the previous quarter, the declines were 0.9% and 1.9%, respectively.
10.11. – The ECB announces the recognition of the credit rating agency Scope for the first time. The dominance of Anglo-Saxon rating agencies had been considered an accelerator of the European sovereign debt crisis.
13.11. – Siemens Energy receives state guarantees and reports a loss of 4.6 billion euros.
14.11. – Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck presents plans for Germany's future hydrogen infrastructure with the Association of Cross-Regional Gas Transport Companies FNB Gas. The companies plan to invest almost 20 billion euros in conversion and new construction.
15.11. – The Federal Constitutional Court declares an earlier supplementary budget of the German government and associated reallocations of Corona aid to the Climate and Transformation Fund invalid. This suddenly reduces the available funds by 60 billion euros.
15.11. – Commerzbank becomes the first universal bank to receive a crypto custody license from BaFin.
17.11. – OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, experiences a leadership drama in which CEO Sam Altman is unexpectedly fired and returns to the same position a few days later. According to media reports, the company had been embroiled in a dispute regarding the use of the technology in recent years.
17.11. – Xavier Niel (Iliad), Rodolphe Saadé (CMA CGM), and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt launches the KI research laboratory Kyutai in Paris to develop sovereign AI technology and maintain Europe's independence from the USA and China.
19.11. – Bayer suffers a severe setback in research. A study with Asundexian, the most significant hope in the pharmaceutical field, is discontinued. The next day, the stock records its largest single-day loss in history.
23.11. – Right-wing populist Geert Wilders emerges as the unexpectedly clear winner in the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. The anti-Islam politician aims to become the Prime Minister.
29.11. – Entrepreneur René Benko's real estate empire faces bankruptcy as the Austrian Signa Holding files for insolvency. The company has been grappling with increasing construction costs, rising interest rates, and a lack of transparency.
29.11. – Thyssenkrupp appoints Jens Schulte as the new CFO. The former CFO of Mainz-based glass manufacturer Schott will begin his role in Essen in the second half of the fiscal year 2023/24, which started in October.
29.11. – According to the ECB, corporate lending in the Eurozone decreases for the first time since 2015.
30.11. – Goldman Sachs withdraws from the credit card partnership with Apple.
December
2.12. – No grace period for banks in the EU. The European Commission insists on the timely implementation of Basel capital requirements by January 1, 2025.
4.12. – Chancellor Scholz denies Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck the trip to the UN Climate Summit (COP) due to budget discussions.
4.12. – The gold price reaches an all-time high of $2,135.40 per ounce.
5.12. – Rating agency Moody's takes a more critical view of China's creditworthiness and downgrades the outlook from stable to negative. This raises the risk of a downgrade from the current "A1" credit rating.
5.12. – The world leader in chemical distribution, Brenntag, initiates a separation of its Essentials and Specialties divisions, following the path advocated by activist shareholder Primestone earlier in the year.
7.12. – Tourism company Tui considers relocating its primary listing from the London Stock Exchange to Frankfurt.
8.12. – The European Court of Justice restricts the use of the Schufa score. An automated credit rating must not be "substantial" for lending.
10.12. – French AI startup Mistral AI raises €385 million in a funding round, joining the mini-club of European AI unicorns.
11.12. – In the third attempt, the Bundesliga opens up to private equity investors: German top football clubs in professional football vote in the DFL meeting in favor of a potential sale of a minority stake in licensing revenues from television rights.
12.12. – The price of natural gas on the European spot market hits its annual low for the monthly contract on CME Europe at €34.70 per megawatt-hour.
13.12. – Following the annual transparency exercise, the European Banking Authority attests to the robust condition of major banks in the Eurozone.
18.12. – Software AG sells two of its core divisions to IBM for over €2 billion.
20.12. – After more than 70 years, Japanese conglomerate Toshiba is delisted from the stock exchange.
21.12. – British oil and gas producer Harbour Energy merges with Wintershall Dea in an $11 billion deal. BASF acquires a 40% stake in the merged company.
26.12. – Former German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble dies at age 81.
