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Illustration by Raj Verma
What is common between Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen? Both are automakers, both are based in Germany. But few know that both also run banks. Mercedes Benz Bank and Volkswagen Bank are well-known brands in Germany. Similarly, UK-based supermarket chain TESCO has a bank and so does Richard Branson s Virgin Group, whose bank got merged with Clydesdale Bank last year.
All these are not big universal banks that dominate the system. The UK market has big global banks such as Barclay, Lloyds, HSBC and Standard Chartered. Similarly, banks run by the German automakers don t even figure within the top ten. There are also no instances of bad governance in these corporate-backed banks. Part of the reason could be the well-developed legal system in these economies.