The paper is reviewing the foundation of the “Bankgesellschaft Berlin” in 1994 that consisted in a merger of three publicly owned banking institutes in Berlin. The financial crisis of the banking group in 2001 resulted in one of the biggest public scandals in German banking history. The paper is analyzing the case of the “Bankgesellschaft” in relation to possible interdependencies between its foundation and the financial crisis in 2001. In spite of evidence for inefficiencies in the structure of the “Bankgesellschaft” it cannot be stated that the merger in 1994 directly resulted in the financial crisis of the banking group.
