BERLIN (Dow Jones)–The general meeting of the Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (VDP) has elected Gero Bergmann, member of the Board of Management of BayernLB, as the new VDP President. The association announced this. He will thus succeed Georg Reutter, who took over the position last year and – in view of his impending departure from DZ HYP – resigned from the presidency. He will be a member of the VDP Board of Directors until the end of July this year. “I’m taking on this office in an extraordinary situation – the real estate markets are in a state of upheaval,” said Bergmann. Especially now it is important, among other things, to openly address counterproductive regulatory projects in order to achieve political goals.
With the sustainable transformation of the economy and the building stock as well as the creation of affordable living space, politicians have announced important, but at the same time very challenging goals. The entire real estate industry plays a key role in achieving this, including the real estate financiers who have to shoulder a large part of the investments to be made. At the same time, the banking industry would face further burdens that would reduce its ability to provide credit. The countercyclical capital buffer and the systemic risk buffer for residential real estate financing have been in effect since February.
The sustainable finance regulation that is emerging will also further restrict the institutions’ lending options. “It is not expedient that those who are inevitably supposed to take on a large part of the financing of political visions are always confronted with requirements and capital restrictions – that doesn’t go together,” emphasized Bergmann. “I will point this out to politicians, supervisors and the public,” he announced.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 07, 2023 06:42 ET (10:42 GMT)