The once unassailable bastion of German universal banking occupied by Deutsche Bank suddenly looks vulnerable. Germany’s banks seem every bit as sickly as their counterparts in the UK and the US. Angela Merkel’s government has already rescued Landesbanks, and once-mighty Citigroup has exited the market. Last week, Germany’s bank rescue fund had to inject a second wad of cash into Commerzbank, taking a 25 per cent stake, as the country’s second-largest lender struggles to absorb the Allianz cast-off, Dresdner Bank.

Can the government afford to let Deutsche, the country’s biggest bank, persist in its belief that it does not need a capital injection as analysts steel themselves for a fourth-quarter loss? So far Josef Ackermann, chief executive, has put off the day when he has to knock on Ms Merkel’s door. Pride may play a part in that. Until the third quarter, Deutsche looked to be weathering market turmoil in better shape than its peers. It entered the credit crisis in mid-2007 with a tier one capital ratio of 8 per cent. By the third quarter of last year, it had lifted that to 10.3 per cent, through a combination of capital reclassification, fresh equity and asset sales. Nor has it struggled to raise capital, procuring more than €10bn during the crisis. Meanwhile it has steadily lowered its leverage ratio towards a first quarter target of 30 times from 38 times at the end of June.