of business in 2012, while more than a third wanted to reduce cre lending. in addition, underwriting terms and conditions were expected to further tighten in 2012. however, for 2013 lenders expect some relaxation of lending practices back to rather normal levels, which can be interpreted as a positive sign. now, let me draw your attention to an important aspect of cre financing – the cmbs markets. ( slide ) we have seen deteriorated cre prices, selective lending practices, and investors being in talks about workout with their lenders. based on this the future does not look promising from the point of view of financial stability. if we look at maturity dates for cmbs, there are 40 to 50 billion u. s. dollars a year to be refinanced globally until 2020. the u. s. accounts for the majority of these maturing cmbs. however, the remaining countries, among them the u. k., germany and japan are most important, account for the other half of maturing cmbs until 2020. numerous times the question about a funding gap was raised. for europe alone, dtz research looked beyond cmbs and identified a funding gap for all commercial real estate for the years 2012 to 2014 that exceeds 100 billion u. s. dollars. so, who is going to fill the gap? ( slide ) in europe and the u. s. more than half of cre financing is provided by commercial banks. insurers account for more than 10 percent in both regions. in the u. s., abs issuers gained importance over the last 20 years and account for more than 20 percent of the market today, according to the federal reserve. cre financing markets can be described as fragmented, but they are still dominated by the banking sector. the current weakness of the banking sector calls for non - bank financiers such as insurers and pension funds. moreover, the impact of regulatory initiatives such as basel iii and banks ’ need to deleverage will affect cre lending. weak securitisation markets put additional pressure on cre markets. although banks are the most important providers of finance to the cre market, cre loans only account for 10 to 15 percent of the loan book globally. although individual shares may differ greatly, certain trends can be observed. in the u. s., cre loans add up to more than 20 percent of banks ’ loan portfolios while for example in german banks they only account for

just to name a few : u. s. – 19 %, uk – 23 %, spain – 29 % and ireland – 67 % between 2007 and 2012. recently, there are signs of stabilisation or even an upward trend. however, a rapid rebound of cre prices in most g20 countries to a pre - crisis level seems unlikely in the short - term. if i look at the development of prices and the annual investment activity at once i can see certain coherence between the two. ( slide ) while global invested volumes fell by two thirds from 2007 to 2009, they almost doubled after that in only two years to almost 400 billion u. s. dollars. unsurprisingly, invested volumes for asia - pacific have gained tremendous market share over the last few years and are now at the same level as for europe and twice as high as for north america. ( slide ) having the pleasure of welcoming all of you here in frankfurt – germany ’ s banking city – i would like to take the opportunity to briefly give you some insights into the german cre market. germany has seen a moderate development of cre prices over the last decade. bis central bankers ’ speeches however, the cre market and consequently cre prices – unlike most other european markets – have benefited from the economic conditions here. foreign investors have stepped up their investment activity over the past two years. leaving germany and taking a global view again the question is, what is the state lenders and investors are in? ( slide ) obviously, falling prices have not failed to leave a mark on both. an enormous half of investors in emea and 75 percent in north america are in talks with banks on loan amendments and / or loan extensions. if restructuring or extension of the loan is not possible, investors must find other sources of capital for equity injections or partial loan repayments and if this fails even asset sales are on the agenda. clearly challenging times for investors and following them, the lenders. ( slide ) the latter have chosen a very selective path in financing cre, lately. a more cautious underwriting practice and tighter lending standards can be observed. according to the survey of lenders for dtz ’ global research, a preference for less risky investments was identified. prime assets are in favour of lenders, whereas speculative developments and non - prime assets are currently not part of their strategic agenda. this trend of consolidation is also reflected in new lending, where only a minority of survey respondents expected expansion