FRANKFURT, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Regulators could choke economic growth if they made overly restrictive rules about banks' capital requirements, Deutsche Bank chief executive Joseph Ackermann said in an interview with Der Spiegel.
'We must optimise coming reform measures in such a way that we get a more stable system but at the same time avoid overly high economic costs to society,' he said in an interview for the weekly magazine's Oct. 5 edition.
Rules agreed by the Group of 20 rich and developing nations in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25 required tighter supervision and a raft of measures including stipulations for banks to build and hold more capital and liquidity.
Ackermann said that this could reduce their lending abilities.
The head of DSGV, the organisation of Germany's 440 savings banks, told reporters at an IMF meeting in Istanbul at the weekend he also feared that tighter capital rules could squeeze lending activity.
If silent participations were no longer counted to the savings banks' tier 1 capital, then it could be short of 'a very high double-digit billion euro figure,' said DSGV president Heinrich Haasis, adding this could cause permanently tight credit availability.
Ackermann in the interview with Der Spiegel also defended the system of bonus payments, which have come under G20 scrutiny, and rejected the notion of capping bankers' salaries.
Deutsche was paying most bonuses in stock which meant they were tied to the company's long-term value, and, as a consequence of the crisis would also introduce penalties.
'It would be possible to lose one's bonus in the future,' Ackermann said.
He also reiterated Deutsche's 25 percent return on equity target.
While tighter capital rules made this more difficult, the number of competitors had shrunk in the crisis, profit margins were rising and emerging markets bore huge potential, he said.
(Reporting by Philipp Halstrick and Vera Eckert) Keywords: DEUTSCHE/RULES (vera.eckert@reuters.com; +49 69 7565 1228; Reuters Messaging: vera.eckert.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We must optimise coming reform measures in such a way that we get a more stable system but at the same time avoid overly high economic costs to society,' he said in an interview for the weekly magazine's Oct. 5 edition.
Rules agreed by the Group of 20 rich and developing nations in Pittsburgh on Sept. 25 required tighter supervision and a raft of measures including stipulations for banks to build and hold more capital and liquidity.
Ackermann said that this could reduce their lending abilities.
The head of DSGV, the organisation of Germany's 440 savings banks, told reporters at an IMF meeting in Istanbul at the weekend he also feared that tighter capital rules could squeeze lending activity.
If silent participations were no longer counted to the savings banks' tier 1 capital, then it could be short of 'a very high double-digit billion euro figure,' said DSGV president Heinrich Haasis, adding this could cause permanently tight credit availability.
Ackermann in the interview with Der Spiegel also defended the system of bonus payments, which have come under G20 scrutiny, and rejected the notion of capping bankers' salaries.
Deutsche was paying most bonuses in stock which meant they were tied to the company's long-term value, and, as a consequence of the crisis would also introduce penalties.
'It would be possible to lose one's bonus in the future,' Ackermann said.
He also reiterated Deutsche's 25 percent return on equity target.
While tighter capital rules made this more difficult, the number of competitors had shrunk in the crisis, profit margins were rising and emerging markets bore huge potential, he said.
(Reporting by Philipp Halstrick and Vera Eckert) Keywords: DEUTSCHE/RULES (vera.eckert@reuters.com; +49 69 7565 1228; Reuters Messaging: vera.eckert.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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