Gold discount bank
The Golddiskontbank (also Deutsche Golddiskontbank , or Dego for short ) was a state-owned bank founded in 1924 to promote the German export industry by financing raw material imports. It was liquidated from 1945 .
The establishment of the Deutsche Golddiskontbank
With the help of the newly founded gold central bank, the first name of what would later become the Deutsche Golddiskontbank, according to the plan of the then Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht, foreign currency was to be brought to Germany by issuing shares , primarily to foreign banks . When it was founded, the Golddiskontbank was also given the right to issue notes , which it never made use of. It saw itself not as a currency bank , but as a discount and credit bank. The primary tasks and goals of the Golddiskontbank when it was established on March 19, 1924:
- to get the German economy going again, to grant loans, above all to support export trade and to buy the required raw materials or other goods without having to pay for them with Reichsmarks or Rentenmarks
- To generate the necessary funds for the empire to pay the reparations payments
- ensure the stability of the currency.
In the run-up to the event, there were various discussions regarding the full payment of the reparations . There were fears that the gold bank would only be a reparations bank. The intention to supply oneself with gold and foreign exchange from abroad aroused, among other things, the fear of becoming dependent on foreign countries and thus giving it great say in financial and economic matters; it was seen as more advantageous and sustainable if the German economy recovered on its own.
The main area of responsibility was the granting of loans to German exporters. The loans were made available to them at interest rates that were well below normal rates. The necessary funds procured the Golddiskontbank by entering into rediscount agreement abroad as long as they do not own the share capital were taken.
Construction and development of the gold discount bank
The deposits for the share capital of the Golddiskontbank were made in pounds sterling on the grounds that the pound was a strong currency that was respected in the banking world and that the German economy was ultimately dependent on the English financial market. In addition, the incentive for foreign banks should be increased in this way, making participation appear more attractive.
The share capital of the Golddiscontbank was 10 million pounds (which corresponded to 200 million gold marks ). The shares were issued at £ 10 each and were split into two groups, A and B. Group A paid one half of £ 5 million. This part was completely taken over and paid in by the Reichsbank. The £ 5million that comprised Group B shares were bought by a consortium made up entirely of German banks. This consortium released the shares for public subscription at home and abroad. In order not to lose the majority of the votes, the Reichsbank had also acquired part of the B share package. In order to raise those £ 5 million, the Reichsbank had taken out a long-term loan from the Bank of England .
Theoretically, the bank also had the right to issue notes for a total of £ 5 million (100 million gold marks ), a right which the bank never made use of. The right to issue notes could be withdrawn by the Reichsbank, but should expire on December 31, 1934 at the latest. In fact, just a few months after the bank was founded, when the Reichsbank Act of August 30, 1924 came into force , the right to issue notes was abolished. The gold discount bank was exempt from any imperial, state and municipal taxes. It claimed independence from political influence and its business was to be strictly separated from public finances. No loans were allowed to the Reich , the states or the municipalities. After the efforts of Reichsbank President Schacht, the business of the Golddiskontbank was expanded, so that from the spring of 1927 it was finally used to manage public funds.
The organs of the Golddiskontbank consisted of the management board, supervisory board, advisory board and general assembly. The Reichsbank made its organization and administration available. The legal templates were the same as for the other German central banks . When the bank was founded, there were fears that foreign banks would send representatives to the bank's supervisory board or administration and thus directly or indirectly influence German financial policy. Although this was actually intended in the beginning by the Allied powers , who saw the gold discount bank only as a temporary solution on the way to a currency bank, it did not materialize. All positions and posts in the administration as well as in the supervisory board were filled by employees of the Reichsbank.
The gold discount bank received additional tasks in the course of currency stabilization; all shares were acquired by the Reichsbank. In 1926, for example, the Golddiskontbank had taken over longer-term Pfandbriefe (3–5 years) from the Rentenbankkreditanstalt at a very low interest rate. There was also a lack of special sectors of the economy such as B. agriculture in opportunities to raise long-term capital. However, the main field of activity was still granting loans to German exporters of industrial products. Golddiskontbank generated the funds for this through the conclusion of rediscount agreements. Since the end of the same year, the Golddiskontbank has also issued so-called promissory notes to relieve the overcrowded short-term money market. By law of December 1, 1930, the gold discount bank was restructured.
The banking crisis of July 1931 created an increased need for credit. A disproportionate number of loan cancellations from abroad resulted in a crisis of confidence in the domestic financial world, which led to a credit shortage , which in turn resulted in increased demand for low-interest loans at the gold discount bank. The annual report of the year speaks of an “unprecedented crisis”. So that the Golddiskontbank could get more capital for this task, shares of group C were issued , which increased the capital stock by 200 million Reichsmarks and which were completely bought up by the Reichsbank. This money was used to clean up the troubled banks. Among other things, stand-by loans were used this year, e.g. B. a loan of $ 50 million with the International Acceptance Bank (New York), which was then made available through the gold discount bank of the Reichsbank. In this crisis year, a standstill agreement was concluded with foreign banks with the assistance of the Golddiskontbank . The contractual partners on the German side were the Reichsbank and a standstill committee of the German economy. The agreement guaranteed the German banks that foreign banks would not call up (hold still) loans. The Golddiskontbank assumed the guarantees for some of the loans, which in turn were covered by guarantees from the German economy. The standstill agreement was supplemented by the 1932 loan agreement and renewed annually until 1954.
The activity of the gold discount bank 1933-1945
After the seizure of power by the National Socialists , the Golddiskontbank played a role in the defense funding. The Mefo bills created especially for this purpose were not placed directly on the money market , but placed indirectly in the form of block and promissory notes from the gold discount bank.
The foreign exchange regulations for Jewish refugees finally opened up a new area of activity for the bank. Jews who intended to emigrate had to make their securities available directly to the Prussian State Bank , unless they left them with their house bank, which in turn placed the securities in a blocked deposit in favor of the Prussian State Bank. The Prussian State Bank acted as trustee of the Reich Ministry of Economics , sold the securities and transferred the proceeds to an account at the Golddiskontbank in favor of the Reich Ministry of Economics. The gold discount bank, which worked on the account of the Reich Ministry of Economics, reduced the equivalent value of the foreign currency by a discount specified by the Reich Ministry of Economics. The credit reduced by this amount was then made available again to the emigrant's house bank in foreign currency. The emigrants lost all rights to the securities once they had been transferred to the special deposit "Reich Ministry of Economics - Export Promotion Fund - Capital Transfer" at the Prussian State Bank.
The Golddiskontbank was also involved in transactions involving amounts of cash and belongings for Jewish emigrants. If, for example, cash amounts were to be transferred, the house bank of the Jewish emigrant had to transfer the amounts to the Golddiskontbank, which then credited them to an account of the Reich Ministry of Economics. The gold discount bank, in turn, transferred the equivalent value, reduced by a considerable discount, back in foreign currency.
Removal goods and other assets were only allowed to be brought abroad with the approval of the responsible foreign exchange office . Approval was only granted if a so-called Dego levy was paid to the Reich Ministry of Economics, which for this purpose had an account with the Golddiskontbank.
During the war, the Golddiskontbank continued to issue promissory notes, and it also increasingly undertook currency hedging transactions . To this end, the Golddiskontbank granted loans to secure claims whose redemption had become uncertain due to the war.
liquidation
The Deutsche Golddiskontbank was founded by law of March 19, 1924 as a subsidiary of the Reichsbank in the form of a legal entity under private law. 85% of the nominal capital of 600 million RM was in the possession of the Reichsbank, whose nominal capital of 150 million RM was in turn owned by private, e.g. T. was also held by foreign shareholders. Both institutes were shut down in 1945 and their functions were transferred to successor institutes or completely canceled. The draft law on the liquidation of the Deutsche Reichsbank and the Deutsche Golddiskontbank provided for the dissolution of the institutes and compensation of the shareholders in accordance with the conversion law created by the currency reform in 1948. By the law on the liquidation of the Deutsche Reichsbank and the Deutsche Golddiskontbank of August 2, 1961, Dego, which had been dormant since 1945, was dissolved with effect from October 1, 1961 and liquidated according to the principles of company law. The private shareholders to be compensated were mostly foreign Dego shareholders who owned 1/7 of the shares. The liquidation deadline was on September 30, 1969. The shares were acquired by the Bundesbank ; The Oberfinanzdirektion Berlin was entrusted with the administration of the accounts of the former Golddiskontbank .
people
- Rudolf Löb , member of the supervisory board and working committee of the supervisory board from 1924
- Georg von Simson , member of the supervisory board and working committee of the supervisory board from 1924
- Hermann Kißler , member of the supervisory board from 1924
literature
- Haus, Rudolf: The Deutsche Golddiskontbank. Cologne 1959.
- Stucken, Rudolf: German monetary and credit policy. (3rd edition) Tübingen 1964.
- Whale, Philip Barrett: Joint Stock Banking in Germany. A Study of the German Creditbanks Before and After the War. (Reprint of the 1930 edition) London 1968 ( online ).
- Gabler-Bank-Lexikon: Concise dictionary for banking and savings banks with a bank directory. (9th edition) Wiesbaden 1983.
- Handbook of German stock corporations . Volume 48 (1943). Volume 4.
Web links
- Documents and newspaper articles on the gold discount bank in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reichsbank Act. From August 30, 1924. In: Reichsgesetzblatt Part II. No. 32 (1924). Pp. 235-246.
- ^ Ordinance of the Reich President to secure the economy and finances. From December 1, 1930. In: Reichsgesetzblatt Part I. No. 47 (1930). P. 591 f.
- ^ Rudolf Stucken: German Monetary and Credit Policy 1914 to 1963. S. 152 f. as well as W. Dieben: The inner Reich debt since 1933. In: Finanz-Archiv. NF Vol. XI (1949). P. 692.
- ↑ Bundesarchiv: [1] ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Federal Archives: Cabinet Minutes of the Federal Government of July 2, 1957 [2]
- ↑ Federal Archives: [3]
- ↑ Federal Archives: [4] ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
