After the sharpest rise in interest rates since the 1980s, banking supervision is called upon. The fall in bond prices with the rise in interest rates is tearing gaps in many bank balance sheets, which in Germany have so far been filled with reserves and capital buffers. But these reserves have been depleted. The German financial regulator Bafin rightly no longer trusts only the annual financial statements audited by auditors, but is tightening its own control measures to uncover liquidity risks in the banks.

After the financial crisis from 2008 onwards, the focus was on higher capital requirements for banks. At the same time, the interbank market for short-term money lending had dried up at the time, and liquidity risks had arisen. These affected, for example, Landesbanken, which had only a few permanent customers. One lesson at the time was therefore to rely more on customers' savings deposits for bank financing. But the recent demise of banks such as Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse has shown that clients are now able to withdraw their deposits at lightning speed, even in the event of a hint of panic. There doesn't even have to be rational reasons for this.

Bafin boss Branson's warning to the smaller banks and savings banks that report directly to him is therefore clear and correct: the fight against liquidity risk has a price. Bind customers by offering them higher interest rates too!