The credibility of German banking - never very high at the best of times - has been severely tested this year. Everyone knew that Deutsche wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer when it bought the ailing Bankers Trust, but the attempted merger with Dresdner in April was folly beyond the pale.

Then Dresdner's plan to merge with Commerzbank fell through because Commerz's chairman, Martin Kohlhaussen, believed that he was being short-changed. Even giant insurance company Allianz, the undisputed kingmaker in German finance and German industry, didn't cover itself with glory. Allianz may still pull most of the German puppet-strings but this year the company has been seen as both greedy and flat-footed.