I have since been privileged to hold significant positions of public service at both national and European level. Looking back, one influential aspect was having people at senior levels to whom I could relate, and who I could see as role models. That made a difference in my career.
After looking at emerging markets, you may be also interested in the effects of recent market developments on the German banking industry. I would like to make four points here. First, German banks’ direct lending to US subprime borrowers or to intermediaries who passed loans on to the intermediaries is negligible.