Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing warned that gains by far-right and far-left parties in recent German elections could discourage foreign investors, who may view developments in individual states as a reflection of Germany as a whole. The AfD narrowly missed an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt before finishing first in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while the Left Party secured its biggest win in Berlin’s city-government election and pledged to expropriate residential property companies’ holdings. Sewing said such outcomes were damaging to economic growth and investment conditions, and urged Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to pursue faster, more decisive reforms. He has also criticised the coalition’s slow implementation of economic measures and called for greater labour-market flexibility, including reducing the current €180,000 ($202,000) annual salary threshold for certain employment protections.