In the fourth quarter of 2013, the financial assets of households rose by around €79 billion or 1.6% on the quarter to €5,152 billion by the year-end.The largest part of this increase, at around €47 billion, was the result of valuation gains; the transaction-related acquisition of financial assets amounted to around €32 billion. There was a continuation of the trend towards liquid assets in an ongoing low-interest-rate environment, a trend which has been observed for some time now.

The Deutsche Bundesbank posted its first-ever representative to South Africa at the country's German Embassy on 1 August 2016 with a view to deepening the bank's cooperation with the G20 emerging market economy.

In the third quarter of 2014, the financial assets of households rose by €28 billion on the quarter, climbing to €5,011 billion. While the transaction-related acquisition of financial assets amounted to just under €34.5 billion, leaving it roughly unchanged compared to the previous quarter, valuation losses, notably on shares, curtailed growth in assets by around €6.5 billion. With regard to types of investment, the trend towards liquid and lower-risk assets, which has been evident for some time now, continued into the third quarter.