Initiative to Curtail Negative Interest Rates Gains Traction in Germany

Negative interest rates, a common occurrence in Europe these days, are unpleasant for both banks and clients. And financial institutions have been increasingly transferring the bulk of the burden on to their customers. Some political factions in Germany, however, aren’t happy with the trend and are pushing for adequate protection for the ordinary small saver, who is often their voter too.

Also read: Major Swedish Bank Orders Negative Interest Rate on Euro Deposits

Bavarian Leader Wants Berlin to Outlaw Punitive Interest

Germany needs to ban banks from passing negative rates to retail clients and it has to do so with a law. That’s according to Markus Söder, the prime minister of Bavaria, the largest and richest German state, and leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU). The local official with national prominence recently opened a front against subzero rates announcing an initiative in the Bundesrat, the upper house of the federal parliament, to exempt…