Deutsche Bank's corporate spying probe is not the only mystery in German banking. Not so long ago, Berlin depicted the financial crisis as an Anglo-Saxon problem. Even as Berlin took a 25 per cent stake in Commerzbank and rescued Hypo Real Estate, finance minister Peer Steinbrück railed at state aid provided to banks elsewhere. Then he dismissed other countries' stress tests as worthless. In some ways, Mr Steinbrück's insouciance was understandable. Unlike elsewhere, German credit continued to expand – at least until the start of this year.
針對德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)涉嫌企業監控的調查，并非德國銀行業的唯一謎團。就在不久前，德國政府還將金融危機描述為英美兩國問題。甚至當德國政府購入德國商業銀行(Commerzbank) 25%的股份，并為Hypo Real Estate紓困之際，德國財政部長佩爾·施泰因布呂克(Peer Steinbrück)還在斥責其它國家為銀行提供政府援助的行為。其后，他又把它國的壓力測試貶為毫無價值。從某些方面來看，施泰因布呂克的高枕無憂是可以理解的。與其它國家不同，德國的信貸持續擴張——至少到今年年初時仍是如此。