The German competition watchdog has begun an inquiry into possible price-fixing by German banks today.
The investigation follows controversial comments by the head of the BdB banking federation, Mr Rolf Breuer, last weekMr Breuer, who is also supervisory board chairman of Deutsche Bank, said last Thursday that German banks did not intend to pass on immediately to their customers the recent half-point cut in key interest rates by the European Central Bank.
"We simply cannot afford to do that at the moment," Mr Breuer said. He added banking customers in Germany would have to wait a while yet before they benefited from lower borrowing costs.
Mr Breuer's comments were heavily criticised because it suggested that banks may have struck a secret agreement not to make credit conditions any easier for consumers and companies.
"We have to examine whether these remarks mean that a secret agreement has been struck between banks to leave their interest rates at current levels, or whether it was merely a recommendation," said a spokesman for the Federal Cartel Office.
If the banks agreed between themselves not to lower credit prices, that would contravene German competition law.
AFP