Crises tend to occur unexpectedly and are a threat to financial stability. In an op-ed published in the French daily newspaper Le Monde, Claudia Buch explains that, as a result of the financial crisis, banks need to hold more equity capital in order to be more resilient. As the Bundesbank’s number two writes, "Higher equity capital is the key to a resilient financial system".

At the end of 2017, German households’ financial assets amounted to €5,857 billion, up by €78 billion, or 1.4%, on the third quarter of the year.