German police have detained 400 anti-capitalist protesters in Frankfurt for defying a ban on demonstrations against austerity policies.
The demonstration in the German financial capital was part of a four-day-long "Blockupy" protest, due to run until tomorrow.
Police closed several main roads in Frankfurt - including a main artery into the city that passes by the Messeturm skyscraper housing Goldman Sachs - and flooded the centre with officers. There was no violence.
The European Central Bank reported no trouble and commercial banks, many of whom have made contingency plans to cope with the protests, said their operations were running smoothly.
Police also sealed off Deutsche Bank's headquarters. Germany's biggest bank said its business was unaffected.
The ECB is at the centre of the policy response to the crisis and has faced calls from politicians, investors and protesters to do more.
The central bank says it has already headed off a major credit crunch with unprecedented funding operations in December and February that unleashed over €1 trillion into the financial system and has pressed governments to act.
Some luxury goods boutiques on Frankfurt's most prestigious shopping street closed and boarded up their windows due to the protest, though there were no signs of damage.
The protest followed a legal scrap between activists and authorities over whether the demonstrations should be allowed to proceed.
A court on Monday gave the go-ahead for a rave dance party organised by protesters on Wednesday and protests scheduled for Saturday, but ruled against them taking place on the other days.
On Wednesday, police peacefully removed demonstrators from outside the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters and detained 150 demonstrators yesterday for defying a ban on protests.
