Our historical archives contain sources which give an exact account of gold swap transactions with the central bank of the United States – the Fed. The sources show how the Bundesbank’s quality control procedures and its stringent requirements regarding the composition of its gold made an accurate settlement of accounts possible.

The worsening energy crisis, a sharp economic slump and abruptly rising market interest rates could put the financial system in Germany under considerable pressure. “To ensure that potential stress is not amplified via the financial system, financial institutions must be sufficiently resilient on their own,” said Claudia Buch, Vice-President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, at the presentation of the 2022 Financial Stability Review. “Financial institutions should assess the impact of adverse scenarios. Given the high uncertainty, they should engage in prudent risk provisioning and exercise caution when distributing profits,” emphasised Bundesbank Executive Board member Joachim Wuermeling.

The monetary policy turnaround shaped the Bundesbank’s balance sheet last year. The profit and loss account for 2022 reported a distributable profit of zero. This result was achieved by tapping €1 billion worth of risk provisions. As in the previous years, no profit was transferred to the Federal budget. “The Bundesbank sustained exceptional financial burdens in 2022,” Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said at the joint press conference with Executive Board member Joachim Wuermeling.

The Council of the European Union has appointed Claudia Buch as Chair of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) of the European Central Bank (ECB). “I would like to thank the Council of the European Union for my appointment as Chair of the Supervisory Board and for the trust placed in me.  It will be a great honour for me to take on this role at the European Central Bank, Ms Buch said. During her term of office, she will work to ensure a resilient European banking sector that serves the people of Europe.

“The budgets of the state governments and their local governments shaped up very well in the second year of the coronavirus pandemic,” the Bundesbank writes in its Monthly Report. According to the publication, they recorded an overall surplus of €5 billion in 2021. Despite the favourable state of their finances, state governments made use of emergency borrowing totalling €18 billion under their respective debt brakes. Based on the Bundesbank’s calculations, a large part of these funds was used to top up reserves. It appears that budgetary developments will be favourable this year, too. The Bundesbank sees no need for further emergency borrowing. The positive financial situation will allow state governments to play a part in tackling the energy crisis.

According to the Bundesbank's latest Monthly Report, the first double-digit inflation rate in 70 years and a high degree of uncertainty about energy supply and its costs are weighing significantly on the German economy. In the forthcoming final quarter of 2022 and first quarter of 2023, economic output could therefore fall considerably and Germany be on the brink of a recession. However, the extent of this decline is extremely uncertain, according to the report.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has appointed Joachim Nagel President of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Mr Steinmeier presented the certificate of appointment to Mr Nagel, who holds a PhD in economics, at Schloss Bellevue on 7 January. The ceremony marking the change of office for the tenth President of the Bundesbank will take place on 11 January in Frankfurt and will be streamed live.

In cooperation with the Dutch and Swedish central banks, the Bundesbank invited participants to an international conference on macroprudential topics. This year’s event in Eltville am Rhein addressed issues such as tackling interest rate risk, capital buffers for banks and non-standard monetary policy. The keynote speaker was Tobias Adrian of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The so-called Blessing letter, dated 30 March 1967, forms part of the correspondence between the President of the Deutsche Bundesbank at the time, Karl Blessing, and the then Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, William Martin. Blessing addresses US concerns that the Bundesbank might convert US dollars into gold on a massive scale.

Given the uncertainties in the markets at present, it is gratifying that institutions are well equipped overall, said Bundesbank Executive Board member Michael Theurer, commenting on the outcome of the latest stress test. The stress testing exercise was run by the European Banking Authority (EBA) in cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB). It indicated that the euro area’s banking sector remains capable of enduring even under tougher economic conditions.