| Abstract: | In the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and many other countries, ways to separate retail from investment banking are explored and put into practice. In Germany, there is great reluctance to undertake such steps. The main arguments against such a separation are the structure of the German banking sector, the universal banking system, and the claim that Lehman was (only) an investment bank, and its breakdown has triggered the subprime crises. These arguments, the authors show, are not convincing. The paper first discusses different views on a stronger separation of retail from investment banking and subsequently presents and analyses different proposals. Finally, the paper elaborates on the question of how to implement such a system in Germany. |
