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Mr Bundesbank President, Ms State Secretary, representatives,ladies and gentlemen, dear guests,
Thank you very much, Mr Bundesbank President, Jens, for your very apt words. And thank you for the work you have done since taking over the top position at the Bundesbank. As a stock exchange organisation which serves the financial and business location of Germany, but also as Germans ourselves, we can very much appreciate the dedication to security and stability that the Bundesbank and that you personally have shown.
The location of Germany, and also Europe, already has much today for which to thank you and the Bundesbank. Incidentally this has also helped us, the Deutsche Börse Group, a little in asserting ourselves well in 2012, even in the midst of a weak market environment. Certainly, we have had to endure declines in one part of the business, in trading, due to market conditions. But at the same time we further diversified our activities and, through a boost in investments, laid the foundation for future growth.
We achieved new growth in the first three quarters in individual business areas, which go beyond our traditional core business and contribute to the stabilisation of the markets. This applies, for example, to our secured offers for the interbank market, General Collateral Pooling.
The annual net profit has not been published – we will announce it at our annual balance sheet press conference in February. But right now it is already certain that there is plenty to lose in the world of stock exchanges – and plenty to gain. We know which side we’ll be on, and as such are continuing our more than successful course of the last several years. The Deutsche Börse has managed not only to become number one in Europe but also become a real frontrunner worldwide. We are loath to let these successes slip away from us. Ergo: we’re charging ahead!
With regard to the index levels on the stock markets, the past year was positive at firstglance. The DAX index, the British FTSE 100 or the French CAC 40 as at 31 December were listed significantly higher than a year previously. But feelings of euphoria would be misguided. The headline that the Neue Zürcher Zeitung chose for its special insert on the financial year was: “Knight in shining armour? – New flow of money from the central banks pacifies market insiders.”
How calm and how worried should and must we feel at the start of this new year? I think that the raging fires of the financial crisis, with its previous high point in 2008, and the following euro debt crisis may no longer be blazing, but there are still sufficiently serious embers which continue to smoulder. In addition, there are areas which were previously protected from fire but which would be acutely threatened if another conflagration were to break out. And the largest mortgage is still growing – the spiralling national debt in Europe and most certainly also in the US.
So what lies ahead of us now? 2013 is also a special year for the German financial sector as parliamentary elections are coming up. That's why issues from the financial sector will very quickly become political. The fight for votes is now already dominated by crises and exaggeration. The battle is being waged with broadswords rather than rapiers, which – in connection with the necessary dynamics of events – more often than not can lead to overreactions or misguided responses, up to and including regulations.
The financial sector is, however, not entirely innocent of the often necessary – but not always correct – type of regulatory push which we are currently experiencing. When we think about it, it boggles the mind that an individual trader in London caused a loss of over two billion dollars at his bank. It is understandable that politicians and regulators feel that they not only have a right but also a duty to act after everything that has happened in many places.
But it should also be mentioned that as an operator of regulated, monitored and transparent securities and derivatives trading, we can only marvel now and again to note the naïveté with which opportunities are provided to turn things around for the better. I think back on the merger of NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse Group which was rejected by the EU Commission and which was already in planning one year ago today. Through that merger, Europe would have been able to increase its influence significantly on a positive and socially responsible design for world markets. I think that Europe wasted an essential opportunity ona far greater scale than we did. And it is also as a European myself that I find this regrettable.
The American prospect for stock exchange mergers and market design is apparently diametrically opposed to the one in Brussels. At the end of last year, the Intercontinental Exchange derivatives exchange – I.C.E. or “Ice” for short – presented a merger proposal to the shareholders of NYSE Euronext with the objective of becoming the largest market operator worldwide.
But we here at Deutsche Börse AG already closed the chapter on the rejected merger shortly after this event, and we vigorously established resources for growth and increasing a presence in the markets which are quickly becoming significant. Because one thing is clear: the crucial growth in our markets will not take place in the future in Europe or North America, butinstead in Asia and Latin America. That is why we have massively reinforced our presence inthose places over the last twelve months and will continue to do so. We anticipated a step such as the I.C.E. – it could have been another non-European stock exchange organisation – and prepared ourselves for it very early on. It hasn’t caused us any sleepless nights, but it clearly shows: we cannot and we will not rest for a single minute.
Ladies and gentlemen, over the last several years the Deutsche Börse Group has become the leading stock exchange organisation on its own strength and with great dynamism. To become complacent, as I've said already, would be fatal, because there are – at least – two things to consider:
- First of all, the fragmentation of liquidity will continue, specifically in stock trading. For example, not even half of the US trading volume of the equities listed on the New YorkStock Exchange has designated it as their local stock exchange.
- Secondly, the consolidation of stock exchange operators will march on. I’ve alreadymentioned the planned merger in the US. But consolidation is also proceeding in Asia, and we would be well advised to keep a close eye on this development. The stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai are working closer together. Tokyo and Osaka have merged. And the stock exchanges of the Asean economic region in Southeast Asia have strengthened their cooperation. Asean counts strong financial centres and growth markets such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia amongst its ranks.
Let me make it very clear: too many observers, for example in Frankfurt, or also in other European financial centres, do not have a clue as to what is happening in the stock exchange sector in Asia. Take a look, and get a picture locally. And then form an opinion. And then let us join together to do the right things for the welfare of our respective locations.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, with all the international necessities and opportunities, that we have and must use, for us tonight there is but one message that is especially important: We were, are and remain above all and with the highest priority a service provider for you as market participants and exchange-traded companies. We serve the German financial sector as well as the German economy overall – as part of the Frankfurt-Rhine-Main financial centre. We not only proclaim the integrity of our market, we also actually implement it.
But before I get too excited about what makes our business so unique, I’ll do better to close with a quotation from someone we all know of, Berti Vogts, the Schopenhauer of the football pitch; a quotation, which summarises the development in the stock exchange world. He said once – and please listen carefully: “The top of the heap is getting crowded.” Nothing needs to be added to that.
I’d like to thank you for your kind attention and wish all of you much luck and success in2013 and plenty of stimulating discussions tonight.
