German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG says it plans to set up a bank of its own as a response to funding difficulties seen during the financial crisis.
Spokesman Marc Langendorf on Monday said Siemens aims to expand the product portfolio of its financial services unit — boosting the sales finance area, adding flexibility to the group's financing and optimizing its risk management.
However, it won't provide retail banking services.
Langendorf said "the financial crisis has shown that financing has to be broadly spread across several banks in order to minimize the risk."
Siemens has submitted an application to Germany's banking authority. It is currently under review.