Comment by weinzierl
6 months ago
Sparkasse is not a word I had expected in a post like this, but here we are.
The Sparkasse network is not very well known outside of Germany but is actually Europe's largest financial services group by assets.
What is interesting is that until the 90s the membership banks were public institutions backed by municipal and state guarantees that made them virtually bankruptcy-proof, unlike private banks. EU competition rules then forced Germany to phase out these state guarantees, making Sparkassen subject to normal banking regulations and deposit insurance like other banks.