Germany

The German economy will shrink 6% to 7% this year, Commerzbank forecast on Monday, result that would put the country in the deepest recession of any major European economy this year. The German government currently forecasts that 2009 gross domestic product will fall only 2.25%. But the deluge of gloomy data from German industry is prompting more analysts to cut expectations, adding fuel to the debate over whether the country should adopt a more aggressive fiscal-stimulus policy.

Policy makers in the U.K. and Germany set out plans to place a much heavier regulatory burden on banks and other financial institutions in a sign of how rules throughout Europe are likely to change in the wake of the financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the U.K., Lord Adair Turner, chairman of the country's financial watchdog, laid out recommendations for what he called a "profound" overhaul of banking supervision that, if adopted, will mark the end of more than a decade of light regulation in one of the world's financial centers.

German carmaker Opel and its U.S. parent General Motors have, to the knowledge of the German government, sufficient financing to see them through into April, a junior economy minister said on Wednesday. "What is positive is that money is apparently still there for them to carry on," Dagmar Woehrl told reporters in Berlin. Woehrl added that Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg's visit to the United States earlier this week had moved the Opel issue "a step forward." She added, however, that some questions remained open.

Liechtenstein's largest bank said it is abandoning its tradition-rich trust business, seeking to distance itself from accusations from officials in Germany and the U.S. that it helped rich foreigners evade taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move by LGT Group, which is owned by the tiny Alpine principality's royal family, marks a move away from a mainstay of Liechtenstein banking: the formation of secretive foundations as tax shelters.

Struggling U.S. carmaker General Motors denied a weekend newspaper report its German unit Opel was preparing for insolvency. "This scenario is currently not on the agenda," a GM Europe spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. German newspaper Die Welt had reported on Saturday, citing no sources, that GM and Opel seemed to be preparing for an insolvency at Opel, having hired three law firms with renowned insolvency experts.

The crisis at General Motors threatens to drag down Opel, a storied German brand that GM bought 80 years ago on the eve of the Great Depression, the International Herald Tribune reported. Many in the industry believe Opel has a future only if it can get a temporary helping hand from the German government.

German carmaker Opel should consider entering insolvency, the country's interior minister has said. Modern insolvency law was "not set up for the destruction but for the preservation of economic assets", said Wolfgang Schaeuble. The comments came as executives from Opel and its parent General Motors (GM) met government officials and promised more details on a restructuring plan, the BBC reported.

The board of General Motors' German Opel subsidiary met on Friday to agree a restructuring plan that could cost thousands of jobs and open the way to state support, Reuters reported. The meeting comes a day after thousands of workers protested in Ruesselsheim, calling for an independent Opel after 80 years as a unit of GM. It is the first carmaker in Europe to ask for government support to survive.

Hayman Advisors LP, the firm that earned $500 million betting on the U.S. subprime mortgage-market collapse, says Europe’s monetary union is about to fall apart, Bloomberg reported. Richard Howard, a managing director for global markets at Dallas-based Hayman, said Germany may opt to shore up its own economy, Europe’s biggest, rather than bail out fellow euro nations such as Austria, Italy and Spain as their banks sag under the weight of bad debts. That might lead to defaults and compel Germany to renounce the euro, he said.

Germany is the world's leading exporter and fourth-biggest economy, but during the global financial meltdown, it has also been among the most tightfisted. For months, German leaders have warned that spending and lending huge sums to fend off recession--such as the United States' $787 billion stimulus package--will backfire in the long run. In recent days, however, German officials have had a swift change of heart, according to a Washington Post analysis.