Berlin, Frankfurt The early 1990s were politically hot years at the University of Mainz. And Jörg Kukies was right in the middle of it as a Juso member. His party friend Michael Ebeling recalls: “The Jusos were split into the Stamokaps, to which I belonged, and the reform socialists. You can guess where Jörg was three times, ”says today’s Mayor of Mainz with a laugh.
Stamokap (state monopoly capitalism) was a favorite term of orthodox Marxists – not for Kukies. Other connected: “We campaigned with commitment, were city council candidates. Of course, as Jusos in a hopeless place, ”says Ebeling. The bus went to Bonn for the anti-apartheid demonstration, to Warsaw for a student exchange. “Jörg has always been disciplined. Which doesn’t mean that he didn’t partake in the party. But when the rest of the delegation slept in the morning, he was already jogging in Warsaw. “
This discipline has now earned him a key position in the Chancellery. Kukies becomes head of the finance and economic policy department in the Chancellery. Olaf Scholz (SPD) has assigned him a key position. Up until now, Kukies was a permanent state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, responsible for financial market and European policy. In the future he will advise Scholz on questions of international economic policy and will therefore be involved in the preparation of most of the talks with foreign heads of government.
Kukies, born in 1968, grew up in an SPD family. The father was an electrical engineer at IBM, the grandmother was still a worker in the Schellenmühle in the Black Forest. Kukies studied first in Mainz, then at the Paris Sorbonne, and finally in the USA: at Harvard Kennedy School he brooded over Zeckhauser’s logic problems (how much are you willing to pay to remove a ball in Russian roulette in two different scenarios?) . He then did his doctorate in Chicago.
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One of the friends in the European-American soccer group there was Olivier Vigneron, designated Risk Director of Deutsche Bank. “In 1999, while having a barbecue, a friend from the soccer group told me about his summer internship at Goldman Sachs. It’s fun, whether I’m interested. They always have the recruiting season. ”In 2000, Kukies started at the US investment bank.
From Goldman Sachs to politics
Many Social Democrats consider Goldman Sachs to be the black heart of capitalism. Kukies cannot understand that: “The long-time boss Lloyd Blankfein is a democrat.” Many investment bankers are very “materialistic”, but others are also socially committed. Mayor Ebeling cannot see that Goldman Sachs has spoiled his Juso friend. “Jörg might have been wearing the better suits. But he was never pretentious. In the fan club near Mainz 05 he is still the friend to this day. “
It was after a TV Lich basketball game, in which Kukies got involved, that the decisive turning point came. Kukies, now the German co-head of Goldman Sachs, discussed with SPD politician Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel why top managers so rarely switch to politics. “I said: You never get asked,” Kukies remembers. Can he imagine it? “Depends on the task,” replied Kukies.
Schäfer-Gümbel, now head of the development organization GIZ, thinks of Kukies. “Jörg was part of my regular consultation rounds,” says the ex-head of the Hessen-SPD. “He gave me good advice on financial market issues. Jörg is reflective, a clever and conceptually thinking person. “Goldman Sachs and Co. have had to ask themselves” particularly critical questions “since the financial crisis, according to Schäfer-Gümbel. For him, however, it is “always good to know that many social democrats are working in the financial center.”
The appreciation obviously rubbed off. On a Sunday in March 2018, Kukies received a text message from Olaf Scholz: Schäfer-Gümbel and Nahles had recommended that he talk. Scholz and Kukies met at the Hamburg state representative office, a short conversation was planned, and in the end it was about European unity, the stability and growth pact, and banking regulation. Kukies became State Secretary for Financial Markets and Europe.
The appointment caused criticism. Green politician Gerhard Schick was outraged that “the responsibility for banking regulation is entrusted to an investment banker”. Left-wing financial expert Fabio De Masi found, “Scholz turns the arsonist into a fire brigade.”
But Kukies worked hard, crises were pressing, and on the third day after taking office, an important EU round on Greece took place. His specialist knowledge helped the lawyer Scholz to find his way around the world of finance, as even Kukies critics admit. Four years later, milestones have been reached.
Successes and construction sites
Greece is still part of the euro. There has been progress in European financial supervision. And old burdens from the financial crisis such as PBB and Depfa have been successfully privatized. The corona pandemic became the most important test: “We were able to save many companies from bankruptcy.” In the case of Lufthansa, this was even achieved with a profit for the taxpayer: probably one billion euros, as CEO Carsten Spohr reported.
Not everything worked out: The Commerzbank remains in part state-owned for an indefinite period of time. There was also no progress with the reform of old-age provision. “Riester stayed where he was. There was no political agreement, ”says Kukies.
The State Secretary drew criticism in the Wirecard case. The financial regulator Bafin could not prevent the bankruptcy of the scandal group. Kukies is firmly convinced: With today’s knowledge, the Bafin should have let the public prosecutor march in much earlier, it is said in his environment. He has also become more cautious with personal meetings. In autumn 2019, Kukies met with Wirecard boss Markus Braun, unconsciously on his 50th birthday. His ministry reacted to the bankruptcy with reforms to financial supervision and auditors.
De Masi, long one of the harshest critics, now finds positive words about Kukies. He is “a good guy as a person, very nice and reliable and deeply detailed.” The downside from his point of view: Kukie’s unorthodox manner. “Germany is not Goldman Sachs,” warns De Masi: Kukies is always “in full contact with the players on the market ”-“ even when it was a matter of keeping your distance ”.
The Warburg case is controversial. In 2016, the bank was exempt from repaying wrongly received tax refunds. It was two years ago when Kukies started at the Treasury Department. Nevertheless, in the summer of 2018, Warburg supervisory board chairman Christian Olearius Kukies urged an end to the Bafin special audit in a letter. And met with criticism: Kukies replied in July, “that I cannot respond to your request for support. I do not share the allegations you made against the Bafin. ”Rather, the cum-ex transactions were carried out to a considerable extent“ to the detriment of our community ”, according to the wording of the letter that is available to the Handelsblatt.
What is left of State Secretary Kukies? His reform project, perhaps the most momentous in the long term, is of a technological nature: the introduction of electronic securities, such as crypto-based bonds. It would abolish the document requirement and could ensure that Germany becomes the most important European crypto financial center.
More: An interview with Jörg Kukies