Interlocking Directorates of Bank’s Supervisory Board and Managing Board Members in Other Enterprises in the Period of Establishment of the Monopolistic Capitalism

In Germany, industry–bank relationships were founded before World War II. They served as a cooperative system between industries and banks. These relationships acted as means of banks’ influence on industrial enterprises. The system of industry–bank relationships was established in the early twentieth century as the period of the shift to a monopolistic capitalism. In industry–bank relationships, assignment of directors from banks to industrial enterprises and interlocking directorates on supervisory board of other enterprises were important mechanisms for developing interfirm relationships. This chapter analyzes personnel connections through direct and indirect interlocking directorates of members of top management, such as the supervisory and managing board of large banks on the supervisory board of other enterprises.