The woes of the Deutsche Bank, head quartered in Frankfurt, have littered the papers over the last few weeks, due to the enormous fine the US authorities are looking to impose on them for stepping outside the rules big time during the financial crisis.

The proposed US $ 14 billion fine, is not that far away from the value of DB, a huge player globally in the banking world and kicked off "what if" thoughts if the bank became technically insolvent.

Deutsche Bank is around the tenth largest in the world, depending on the measuring criteria and trades daily with all the other major banks around the globe, so the repercussions if they became bankrupt, could trigger off another major financial crisis.

US authorities know when they have got a bank by the balance sheet but senior DB officials are trying to negotiate the fine down while putting out positive press releases about their financial strength.

Rumours that the German Government thought the situation bad enough to warrant creating a rescue plan have been denied and the share price has stabilised on lower fine hopes.