German corporate treasurers urged not to underestimate the current situation

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German corporate treasuers were urged by an industry association on Thursday not to “underestimate the current situation” as cracks in the global banking system emerge.

The warning came in a blog post on Thursday from the Association of German Treasurers entitled “SVB collapse not without consequences for treasurers” asking whether this was a “Lehman 2.0” moment.

Carsten Linker, head of the associations risk management department, said: “The speed and scope of such crisis developments in the capital market are always remarkable.”

“Increased attention to potential consequential or amplifying effects is also a must,” Linker was quoted as saying, referring to the interconnectedness of markets that could quickly trigger further problems with Credit Suisse in Europe.

The post said that the Germanys capital and banking markets faced only “moderate” impacts from recent turbulence in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

“Nevertheless, treasurers should not underestimate the current situation, even if they themselves are not directly or indirectly affected by the collapse of the three U.S. banks,” the association wrote.

It cited a reserch report from the bank LBBW saying that a flight to quality could weaken smaller and medium-sized banks.

(Reporting by Tom Sims and Marta Orosz; Editing by Paul Carrel)