At the first Ladies' Lunch in Berlin, many participants traveled long distances to exchange ideas from within the financial sector. Iris Bethge-Krauß, CEO and Executive Board Member of the Association of German Public Banks (VÖB), turned a long-held idea into reality by bringing together female executives from public banks, cooperative banks, savings banks, and private banks, to strengthen their network.

Together with Marija Kolak, President of the National Association of German Cooperative Banks (BVR), she invited them to the capital, near the Brandenburg Gate.

Luciana Finazzi Filizzola, responsible for sustainability and communication at Georgsmarienhütte (GMH), and Fritzi Köhler-Geib, a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since November 2024, provided valuable insights on energy and digitalization – two areas where Germany urgently needs to catch up.

The Brazilian-born Filizzola, whose name is Italian, is deeply passionate about solutions for the climate transition. Having made Germany her home over a decade ago, she offers a critical yet constructive external perspective on the country. Her career path led her from Transpetro to Thyssenkrupp before she joined the family-owned green steel provider GMH in November 2022. This move taught her that many German mid-sized companies are voluntarily working toward climate neutrality without regulatory pressure. However, high energy prices threaten to slow progress and undermine significant achievements.

The Bundesbank’s newest board member, Köhler-Geib, is not only responsible for digitalization but is also determined to help the public institution provide solutions. Digitalization, she emphasised, can greatly ease regulatory reporting and risk management burdens. The Bundesbank is also advancing its initiative for a public cloud.

Having previously served as Chief Economist at KfW and spending years at the World Bank in Washington, Köhler-Geib, like Filizzola, brings an external viewpoint on Germany. Key economic concerns on her agenda include workforce qualification, improved financing conditions for the VC sector, and progress in European capital markets integration.

During informal discussions, the conversation shifted to banking-specific challenges. Institutions are increasingly feeling the strain of excessive bureaucracy and high compliance costs. This includes the Green Asset Ratio, which requires banks to assess the climate impact of their clients, including mid-sized businesses, and the extensive sustainability reporting obligations, which now exceed the scope of annual financial reports.

There was also a strong call for closer cooperation between business and politics. Time flew by in these lively discussions, and a continuation of the event is planned for 2026.