German finance watchdog says worst of coronavirus crisis to come

Germany's financial regulator expects the worst of the coronavirus crisis is still to come, although there was no immediate threat to financial stability from the pandemic.

But as many countries in Europe and beyond see rising coronavirus infection rates and governments grapple with how to respond, BaFin president Felix Hufeld said he was concerned about the weakest 20% or 30% of institutions he monitors.

"We will not get out of this thing painlessly. That much is for sure. The hard part is still to come," Hufeld said on Wednesday at a banking conference at which he and other panelists were separated on stage by plastic screens.

Earlier, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing forecast that the economy would not return to normal this year or next, and that many sectors will be running at 70%-90% capacity, with "serious consequences".

"Many companies will have to adjust to this and manage to be profitable with longer-term lower revenues," Sewing said.

(Reporting by Patricia Uhlig, Hans Seidenstuecker and Tom Sims; Editing by Thomas Seythal and Alexander Smith)