Germany could soon be witnessing its first trial related to the financial crisis, after prosecutors charged Stefan Ortseifen, the former chief executive of stricken lender IKB.

Prosecutors in the city of Düsseldorf said in a statement that they had charged Mr Ortseifen – who led the mid-sized corporate lender until it became one of the first victims of the worldwide financial crisis in the summer of 2007 – with manipulating the share price and breach of trust.