,,Far away from Paris Head Offices"
SAARBRÜCKEN/METZ The largest financial institute of the German Saarland has declared the French border region of Alsace Lorraine as an area for business expansion ,,as part of a comprehensive Re-organisation". An announcement from the Saar Landesbank in Saarbrucken (capital of the Saarland) ,,integrated France as a new area for business focus".
The Saar Landesbank (The Saar Provincial Bank) is State owned Bank which is majority controlled by the ,,Free State"of Bayern (the German State of Bavaria) and the Saarland state itself. The effective control is exercised by German politicians. Part of their cross border work of political influence is exercised through the provincial banks. The Saar Provincial Bank now wants to extend these activities with the aim of drawing more than 10% of their profits from the French border region.
Growth ,,very strong"
As Max Haring, the Chairman of the Saar provincial bank openly admits the Alsace Lorraine area offers particular opportunities for expansion. ,,Elsass and Lorraine are far away from Paris Head Offices"and in addition businesses there offer much better economic prospects than there are in Germany. Since the French share of Saar LB's business is growing very strongly the bank intends to establish a branch in Metz.
Wealth transfer
Metz, the largest town in Lorraine, has long been at the centre of German banking and business interest. The Metz idnustrial region (Coal and Steel) was Germanised under Wilhelm II and subjected to control from Berlin. During the Nazi period banks like the Dresdner Bank resided in Metz and were responsible for the transfer of wealth to Germany. All attempts in the post war period to cut the financial and industrial connections with Germany failed on the premises of American policy.
... to ,,Europe"
The extent of German influence on the economic activity in neighbouring states can be seen if we look at the Bavarian Provincial Bank, the majority owner (75.1%) of the Saar Provincial Bank. The ,,House bank of the State of Bavaria", as its own advertising material claims, operates not only in France but also has shareholdings in the Bank for Work and Economy (Vienna), in the South Tirol Savings Bank (Italy) and in the Luxembourg Provincial Bank as well as the Hungarian Foreign Trade Bank (Budapest).
See also earlier article Middle Europe and Middle England: Both part of German ,,Lebensraum"
Sources:
Wachstum in Elsaß-Lothringen; Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 14.06.2003
Eine besondere Verbundenheit; www.saarlb.de