This paper is a draft for the chapter German banks and banking structure of the forthcoming book The German financial system edited by J.P. Krahnen and R.H. Schmidt (Oxford University Press). As such, the paper starts out with a description of past and present structural features of the German...

We show that multi-bank loan pools improve the risk-return profile of banks ̕loan business. Banks write simple contracts on the proceeds from pooled loan portfolios, taking into account the free-rider problems in joint loan production. Thus, banks benefit greatly from diversifying credit risk...

This Paper gives an overview of the German banking system and current challenges it is facing. It starts with an overview of the so-called "Three-Pillar-Banking-System" and a detailed description of the current structure of the banking system in Germany. A brief comparison of the banking system...

The paper is a follow-up to an article published in Technique Financière et Developpement in 2000 (see the appendix to the hardcopy version), which portrayed the first results of a new strategy in the field of development finance implemented in South-East Europe. This strategy consists in...

The paper provides an overview and an economic analysis of the development of the corporate governance of German banks since the 1950s, highlighting peculiarities - as seen from the meanwhile prevailing standard model perspective - of the German case. These peculiarities refer to the specific...