Did German banks want to benefit from US sanctions?

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Safe accounts in the province

Rostock. It seems that bankers and savings banks in Mecklenburg-West tried to take advantage of US sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. According to information from the “Ostsee-Zeitung”, they offered safe accounts to companies that were threatened with sanctions by the US. The Schwerin state government has supported the federal government’s advisory and contact credit institutions.

The idea: companies should withdraw their money from major banks – also in the US – and deposit them into bank accounts in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Safe from American access. Pommersche Volksbank is the only financial institution that has publicly confirmed talks with companies threatened with sanctions – and defended their actions.

Provincial banks safe from the United States?

In September 2020, threatening gestures from the US Senate seem to be becoming more and more reality: US senators in letters – including to the ferry port of Sassnitz in Rügen – threaten to impose sanctions on all companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream cooperation gas pipeline 2. Among other things, the United States wants to impose an entry ban and freeze (company) accounts. The federal government and the state government of Schwerin also condemn the measure as a “violation of international law”, but some entrepreneurs are still worried that they will no longer be able to get their money back.

Therefore, many companies want to bring their money to the banks in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania – including the Pomeranian Volksbank in Stralsund. In the world of international banking it is very small, in 2021 the total balance sheet was less than 1 billion euros. For comparison: Deutsche Bank reached 1324 billion euros in the same year. But size is the advantage of the cooperative bank this time – because it is only active in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is protected by a government friendly to Nord Stream. Big money houses are active all over the world, as well as in the USA. When in doubt, the authorities there can force banks to impose penalties.

The government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern seeks advice in Berlin

But the “small” Volksbank is not sure when the company knocks and wants to transfer its accounts from the “international commercial bank” to the province of West Pomerania. This is stated in the notes of then Finance Minister Heiko Meras (SPD), which are available in the “Ostsee-Zeitung”.

Volksbank is asking for help from the state to assess risks. But the Treasury Department isn’t sure either, ask the federal government. The officer in charge of the Ministry of Finance in Schwerin adds “Best regards from Ms. Selling” under the heading “PS”. The former prime minister’s wife worked for years at the Federal Ministry of Finance and now heads the office of Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer (also SPD).

Meras himself writes personally to the capital, to his good friend Rolf Buzinger (currently State Secretary in the Ministry of Construction). Bösinger’s answer to Volksbank’s question: “From our experts’ point of view, this would be possible for Bommersch Volksbank, but with some obstacles.” Head of department from Berlin to Schwerin: In theory, sanctions should apply only if the company has Nord Stream 2 services worth at least $1 million USD. Among them, the Volksbank should be safe. But even the federal government does not want to give any guarantee that the long arm of the United States will not reach Stralsund.

Participation in Nord Stream 2 was not a problem for the bank

Martin Wangemann, spokesperson for the board of directors of Pommersche Volksbank, confirmed the events from 2020: “Yes, we have inquiries.” After all, the United States also wanted to punish small companies – “even if they used a few trucks to move the feet of the construction pipeline.” The bank specifically wanted to help these companies: “Our mission is to support the economy in the region. If a company’s accounts are frozen, the company may have gone bankrupt. Ultimately, jobs and livelihoods depend on it. “

“We have no restrictions on new accounts. We check if the customer is solvent. But whether he helped build Nord Stream 2 or not – no, it doesn’t matter to us. We can’t and don’t want to judge whether the work done by the customer is It is considered good or bad in politics.” If he had been in doubt, Wangemann says, he would have sanctioned himself to the companies involved: “I would have no assurance of that if the United States denied me entry to the country. But we took refuge in the country because we could not Evaluate the consequences for our bank on our own.”

What about the savings banks in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern?

While the country’s largest bank, Rostocker Ostseesparkasse (Ospa), says it has no “clear contact with companies” linked to Nord Stream 2 or the sanctions, “number two” is evasive: “How do we meet all savings banks, mandate. This includes guaranteeing transactions Pay and provide credit to the economy, especially small and medium-sized businesses, says Gerald Behr, a spokesman for Sparkus Vorpommern.However, he does not know how much accounts have been opened in connection with Nord Stream 2.

This article first appeared in Ostsee-Zeitung.