Germany

“Depending on who you ask, Nord Stream 2 is either a sustainable way to ensure European energy security or a proxy for Russian hybrid warfare. Or both.” – by Evgenios Zogopoulos

“The Trump administration and the U.S. Congress are fighting to block the 9.5 billion-euro ($10.6 billion) Nord Stream 2 project amid fears it will make NATO allies and other European countries more reliant on Russian energy and damage Ukraine by depriving it of transit fees.” – by Todd Prince

“Despite the European macroeconomic picture being “muted” for the past two years, last year saw record activity in most alternative asset classes.  European alternative asset fund managers held €1.62 trillion ($1.82 trillion) in assets as of June 2018, up €300 billion in three years” – by Michael Katz

We are nearly 20 years into the new millennium and it is an unrecognizable place compared to when it started.  Lehman is gone, Bear Stearns – gone, Merrill Lynch – acquired, Citigroup is a fraction of its former self.  Blockbuster, Toys R Us, Woolworths are all part of the history books now.  Europe, where we […]

There’s significant evidence that increasing competition in the gas market would be both good for German consumers and the security of the LNG supply, two experts argue.

According to a recent report by the finance ministry, 34 life insurers – about 40 percent of the country’s total – are under special scrutiny by BaFin, Germany’s financial supervisory authority.

The VW investor lawsuit looks like a US-style class action but it isn’t. The possibilities for suing companies are more limited in Germany, though they’re changing

“German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz , [while] visiting his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire, urged a consolidation of Europe’s defense industry to make the European Union less dependent on US suppliers.”

Traditional German conglomerates and Mittelstand face increasing pressure as technology continues to disrupt business models and shareholders become more receptive to “locusts” funds pushing activist agendas.

Elliott argues it is not pushing for a break-up of thyssenkrupp but that it is in favour selling smaller parts of the business and pursuing more JVs.