DekaBank

Background

established the first giro association involving German savings banks, the Giroverband Sächsischer Gemeinden (), which was founded on with 151 members and started giro operations on . Several other regional giro associations () were subsequently created. On during World War I, the Deutscher Zentral-Giroverband () was established in Berlin to coordinate the activities of the Giroverbände.

{{lang|de|Deutsche Girozentrale}}

The Deutsche Girozentrale (DGZ) was established on , initially as a banking division of the Deutscher Zentral-Giroverband. Its capital of 15 million Reichsmarks was provided by the regional Giroverbände under joint and several liability. DGZ operated cashless payment (giro) transactions and settlement between the regional giro organizations (). DGZ was also tasked with short-term lending to regional giro associations that were members of the Deutscher Zentral-Giroverband, from 1924 the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV), and to other German municipal associations, managing interest-bearing funds, buying and selling foreign exchange, and borrowing on their behalf. In 1919, DGZ was also authorized to provide long-term financing to municipalities and to issue municipal bonds. The name "Deutsche Kommunalbank" was consequently added to that of DGZ in 1921, so that its full name became Deutsche Girozentrale - Deutsche Kommunalbank, still known as DGZ. In 1931, DGZ was reorganized together with the broader municipal banking system, and it received a statute () of its own in 1932. Even so, the DSGV remained ultimately liable for DGZ. At the same time, the supervision of DGZ was transferred from the Interior Minister of Prussia to the national government of the Weimar Republic. From 1933, the National Socialists used DGZ to cover the steadily growing financial needs for rearmament and later for warfare.

Following the end of World War II, the DGZ head office, in East Berlin, was closed by the Soviet Military Administration. In 1949, it was revived as Deutsche Kommunalbank in Düsseldorf, West Germany, but with a more limited mandate that was focused on short-term transactions. In 1954, it was again named Deutsche Girozentrale - Deutsche Kommunalbank and resumed full activities, and in 1955 it opened a branch in West Berlin. In 1964-1965, DGZ's head office was relocated from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt.

1999 merger and aftermath

On , DGZ and DekaBank merged to form DGZ-DekaBank Deutsche Kommunalbank, which was renamed DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale in 2002.

In April 2011, DSGV became the sole owner of DekaBank by purchasing the 50 percent stake owned until then by the Landesbanks.

In November 2014, DekaBank came under the prudential supervisory authority of the European Central Bank as a consequence of European banking union.

In 2015, Deka joined Lloyds Bank and Qatar National Bank in a £705 million senior loan which financed the Qatar Investment Authority’s acquisition of 8 Canada Square in Canary Wharf. That same year, Helaba’s leadership proposed a merger with Deka. In May 2019, both entered into exploratory talks on a merger. Later that year, Deka’s supervisory board instructed management to explore “deeper cooperation” with the bank from January 2020.

In 2016, Deka was one of Germany's main issuers of credit-linked notes.

In 2017, amid the Volkswagen emissions scandal, a German court named Deka as lead plaintiff for 1,470 damages claims against Volkswagen totaling 1.9 billion euros ($2 billion).

References

References

1. "Deka Group at a glance".
2. "Deka Group Annual Report 2024". deka.de.
3. ({{date). "The list of significant supervised entities and the list of less significant institutions".
4. ({{date). "List of supervised entities".
5. Sparkassenhistorisches Dokumentationszentrum des Deutschen Sparkassen- und Giroverbandes. "Geschichte der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe". DSGV.
6. Dietmar Grichnik. (2013). "Bankenverbände: Strategisches Netzwerkmanagement in der Bankwirtschaft". Springer-Verlag.
7. Margarete Wagner-Braun. "Die DekaBank seit 1918". Deutscher Sparkassenverlag.
8. Harald Wixforth. "Die DekaBank seit 1918". Deutscher Sparkassenverlag.
9. Thorsten Beckers. "Die DekaBank seit 1918". Deutscher Sparkassenverlag.
10. ({{date). "Germany's DekaBank fires CEO after spat over bonus".
11. Judith Evans (January 21, 2016), [https://www.ft.com/content/896243ea-bf8a-11e5-846f-79b0e3d20eaf Lloyds steps up commercial property lending] ''[[Financial Times]]''.
12. Andreas Kroener (August 26, 2015), [https://www.reuters.com/article/helaba-landesbk-dekabk-deutsche/german-helaba-chief-floats-idea-of-merger-with-deka-bank-idUSL5N1113KZ20150826 German Helaba chief floats idea of merger with Deka Bank] ''[[Reuters]]''.
13. Klaus Lauer and Arno Schuetze (May 16, 2019), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deka-m-a-helaba/german-landesbanks-helaba-and-deka-consider-tie-up-sources-idUSKCN1SM1MB German landesbanks Helaba and Deka consider tie-up: sources] ''[[Reuters]]''.
14. Patricia Uhlig, Klaus Lauer and Arno Schuetze (December 5, 2019), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deka-m-a-helaba/german-bank-deka-makes-first-move-toward-possible-merger-with-helaba-idUSKBN1Y92BV German bank Deka makes first move toward possible merger with Helaba] ''[[Reuters]]''.
15. Jonathan Gould and Alexander Huebner (July 28, 2016), [https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-regulation/germany-to-ban-sale-of-credit-linked-notes-to-retail-investors-idUSL8N1AE9F7 Germany to ban sale of credit-linked notes to retail investors] ''[[Reuters]]''.
16. Sabine Wollrab (March 8, 2017), [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-court/german-court-names-lead-plaintiff-in-volkswagen-diesel-test-case-idUSKBN16F1ID German court names lead plaintiff in Volkswagen diesel test case] ''[[Reuters]]''.