Are there any problems plaguing German-American business relations?
As far as business is concerned, German-American business relations are occasionally upset or disturbed only when politics is involved. I’ll mention a few points which bother us. We are still waiting for the International Accounting Standards or the International Financial Reporting Standards to be recognized alongside America’s Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, which really is annoying and unnecessary. Delisting has become so difficult on the New York Stock Exchange that, if they wish to do so, Americans are able to prevent it without any problem – I think a minimum number of 300 shareholders are enough to stop a company delisting. If you want to, you can achieve this without any problem. So this is a level that is easy to manipulate, and it is completely out of place a country like the U.S. A third point which is bothering us to some extent at the moment is Basel II. The Americans have unilaterally postponed its introduction for a year, without previous consultation. That is
