May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

FRANKFURT, May 13: Deutsche Bank, the biggest bank in Germany, is not planning any mergers or acquisitions in the next year and a half, chairman Rolf Breuer said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.

We’re not planning any expansion over the next 18 months, either via big investments or via mergers or acquisitions, Breuer told the Financial Times Deutschland.

Breuer, who steps down as Deutsche Bank chief next week, forecast there would be cross-border tie-ups in the banking sector in the medium term but that German banks would not take the initiative in any alliances.

And here, it will probably more likely be the retail business and private banking rather than investment banking or corporate customers, Breuer added. —AFP