Meanwhile, in what media reports described as an unusually blunt comment, the chief financial officer of Deutsche Bank, Stefan Krause, denied it knew of any potential charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission of a kind similar to those that the SEC has brought against Goldman Sachs. The question of any such accusation was made in a conference call with analysts, reports said.

The Wall Street titan – which operates a large wealth management business – is accused of selling a CDO package to investors without telling them that renowned hedge fund investor, John Paulson, had simultaneously been involved in picking securities for the CDO that he intended to short-sell. Goldman is accused of selling securities that it knew were about to plunge in value.

The affair has highlighted potential conflicts of interest. WealthBriefing’s sister publication for the Americas, Family Wealth Report, has been told by wealth management firms that they think that some of Goldman Sachs’ wealth management clients could leave and take their business elsewhere.

Goldman vigorously denies any wrongdoing.

Goldman Sachs executives appeared before a Senate subcommittee. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chief executive, was questioned as lawmakers criticized the bank’s business model and role in contributing to the global financial crisis.

In the Deutsche comments, Krause was quoted by the Financial Times as saying: “To clearly state it here, we have done our internal review of our transactions... we do not see that we have any similar situation to the one that is being discussed.”