The decision was preceded by months of wrangling: On Monday, the influential representatives of the regional savings bank associations now agreed on the CSU politician Ulrich Reuter as the new president of the umbrella organization DSGV – “by a large majority”, as the association announced in the afternoon. The former district administrator of Aschaffenburg is to be officially elected in the first quarter and then take over the business from incumbent Helmut Schleweis at the beginning of 2024. Reuters opponent candidate Liane Buchholz, 57, non-party, and regional president from Westphalia-Lippe did not get a chance. The Savings Banks, which are not exactly career incubators for female executives anyway, missed the opportunity to elect a woman to their head for the first time since the DSGV was founded in 1924.
The power struggle for the leadership of what is probably the largest banking group in the world was waged with a heavy hand: some savings bank representatives wanted to extend the incumbent Schleweis because they considered almost all the candidates to be inadequate. But there was no majority for this: Schleweis is already 68 years old, enjoys a good reputation, but failed to merge the Landesbanks belonging to the group. Born in Heidelberg, he has been leading the DSGV since 2018, succeeding Georg Fahrenschon (CSU), who had to resign after discrepancies with his private tax return.
With Liane Buchholz, a woman had brought herself into play for the office for the first time
At the same time, Liane Buchholz was the first woman to come into play for the office. Technically, it actually met all the requirements, but was apparently too uncomfortable for many officials. According to reports, some in the association resented the fact that she was clearly interested in the post. In addition, she had at times spoken out against a close liability community between state banks and savings banks. This was probably first and foremost the savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, which have a stake in a large state bank. At times, the scramble gave the impression that it was primarily about preventing Buchholz, who instead became DSGV boss was of secondary importance.
If this was the aim of the association representatives, they should now breathe a sigh of relief: Reuter is considered comparatively inexperienced when it comes to current banking issues. He was a district administrator in Aschaffenburg for almost twenty years and before that he was a manager at Deutsche Bank from 1992 to 2001, but prevailed in the power struggle. Party politics may also have played a role, after all, the post is also considered the Union’s hereditary yard – the public law institutes are deeply anchored in the cities, communities and districts through their donation system. The leader of the savings banks is setting the direction, should protect the institutes from the perceived regulatory frenzy and at the same time keep them fit in the competition against financial start-ups.
The fact that the savings bank associations and their municipal sponsors are now electing a man again comes as no surprise. While the federal government has just enshrined a quota for women in public limited companies, politicians in state-owned or state-related companies often do not set a good example. So far, there are only 57 women among the 885 board members in more than 360 savings banks nationwide – a share of 6.4 percent. Even at the state development bank KfW, the previous federal government had rejected a candidate who was at least equally qualified and preferred to choose a man.