The head of Germany's bank rescue fund Soffin, Hannes Rehm, has denied a media report that quoted him as saying German banks needed another 200 billion euros ($262 billion) in equity capital, his spokeswoman said.
Weekly Euro am Sonntag reported that Rehm had told an event hosted by Dresden-based asset management firm Damm-Rumpf-Hering Vermoegensverwaltung that German lenders needed more money. "German banks need 200 billion euros in additional capital," Euro am Sonntag reported Rehm as saying. Speaking via his spokeswoman on Sunday, Rehm said he had been misquoted and had referred to a sum which lenders among the Group of 20 (G20) industrial powers may have to raise between 2013 and 2018 to meet tougher new rules for the financial sector.
"According to existing studies there could be an additional equity capital requirement of 200 billion euros in the G-20 nations," Rehm said, referring to the rules known as Basel III.
Earlier, Rocco Damm, one of the organisers of the event, told Reuters he and his business partners were adamant that Rehm had not mentioned the sum in relation to German banks.
Damm said there had been talk about a figure of 50 billion euros, which, according to media reports, Germany's 10 biggest banks might need to comply with Basel III.