Germany

The cost of insuring Deutsche Bank debt against default leapt on Thursday, while costs for other European banks also climbed as their shares plunged to multi-year lows, Reuters reported. Credit default swaps (CDS), used to insure debt, now imply a 24.5 percent probability that Germany's biggest bank will default on its subordinated, or junior, debt, according to data provider Markit, while on senior debt the probability has risen to 17 percent.

Specialist PV manufacturing equipment supplier Singulus Technologies has highlighted the essential support it needs from shareholders and bondholders to avert liquidity issues that would force the company into insolvency, PVTech reported. The company is planning to hold several bondholder meetings and an Extraordinary General Meeting in an attempt to gain support for balance sheet restructuring that will allow further corporate restructuring. Read more.

Deutsche Bank AG became the largest lender in at least four years to feel compelled to reassure investors and employees that it has enough cash to pay its debts, Bloomberg News reported. Germany’s biggest bank said in a statement Monday that it has more-than-sufficient means to pay coupons on its riskiest debt both this year and in 2017.

Days after central banks initiated a stress test of two trade-plumbing firms in Europe, LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd. said a German bank had defaulted on its financial obligations at the clearinghouse operator, The Wall Street Journal reported. Martin Pluves, chief executive officer at LCH, declared Frankfurt-based Maple Bank GmbH to be a “defaulter” in a Feb. 8 notice posted to the clearinghouse’s website. Maple, whose parent company Maple Financial Group Inc.

Two of Europe's most powerful central bankers have called on the eurozone to form its own treasury and push forward with a quantum leap in integration to secure the single currency's future, The Telegraph reported. Germany's Jens Weidmann and France's newly appointed François Villeroy de Galhau urged member states to move towards a "comprehensive sharing of sovereignty" which would include a common 19-member treasury and an "independent fiscal council" with a eurozone parliament.

Deutsche Bank, confirming that it would post a record loss for 2015, said on Thursday that members of its management board would not receive bonuses for the year and that shareholders should not expect a dividend until 2017 at the earliest, the International New York Times reported. The giant German bank reported a loss of 6.8 billion euros, or $7.4 billion, in 2015, as it set aside money to cover lawsuits and official investigations. It also suffered a decline in revenue in its investment banking unit.

Dozens of large shareholders in Volkswagen plan to sue the carmaker in a German court, seeking compensation for the plunge in its shares due to its emissions test cheating scandal, the International New York Times reported. Law firm Nieding + Barth said on Monday it would lodge a case with a regional court in Brunswick this week, seeking hundreds of millions of euros in damages on behalf of 66 institutional investors from the United States and Britain. "On top of that, we collected several thousands of private investors.

Deutsche Bank AG agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Huaxia Bank Co. to PICC Property and Casualty Co. as co-Chief Executive John Cryan advances plans to narrow the company’s focus and raise capital buffers, Bloomberg News reported today. The sale will generate as much as 25.7 billion yuan ($4 billion), Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank said today. Cryan, who took over from Anshu Jain in July, is selling assets and reducing bonuses to help raise the company’s financial strength without tapping shareholders for funds.

European anti-fraud investigators said on Wednesday that they were looking into whether Volkswagen misused hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans — threatening a significant source of funding for the crisis-struck automaker, the International New York Times reported.

Korean Company Sambo Motors Co. Ltd has taken control of German tuning company Carlsson, GTSpirit.com reported. The Korean company has promised further investment for the Saarland Merzig company and has sought to reassure Carlsson’s employees that their jobs are secure. Sambo was one of four bidders to made a binding offer during the insolvency process. Carlsson entered into liquidation in April this year following a poor year of sales.