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(Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank AG, UniCredit SpA and two more lenders have sued Germany’s industry watchdog to get back their share of a €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion) restructuring fund they were forced to pay for in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
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The four banks, which also include DZ Bank and Volkswagen Bank, are the first to file suits, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. The lenders, German banking associations, regulator Bafin and the court all declined to comment on the plaintiffs’ names.
Lawsuits against the regulator, known as Bafin, were filed at the Frankfurt Administrative Court, a spokeswoman for the tribunal said on Tuesday, with more expected to come. The banks claim that Bafin failed to take action on requests for the refunds.
The cases are part of a quarrel between the German finance industry and the government over what should happen with the funds stemming from the bank levy that’s no longer needed as the European Union has set up a bloc-wide solution.
A German finance ministry spokeswoman said the government and the states made “considerable expenditures” during the financial crisis to “avert acutely threatening distortions” on the market. The banks subject to the levy have benefited from these contributions and that is why the government doesn’t intend to repay the levy, she added.
About 400 lenders have asked Bafin to pay back the money but the government has plans to shift it to its Financial Market Stabilisation Fund, also known as SoFFin.
A Bafin spokesman said the agency is surprised by this step as the regulator has been in intensive talks with the lenders. The complaints contain highly complex legal issue that first need to be examined.
Börsen-Zeitung reported the suits earlier.
The cases are: Az. 7 K 3685/24 et al.
(Updates with identity of fourth lender in second paragraph)
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