British bank close to German ex-chancellor (5)

I believe the answer is:

brown

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'ex-chancellor' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'british bank close to german' is the wordplay.
'british' becomes 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in BBC).
'bank' becomes 'row' (a bank is a row of things).
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The last letter of 'german' is 'n'.
'b'+'row'+'n'='BROWN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brown that I've seen before include "Colour (but not that of his box!)" , "Fry in a pan until it changes colour" , "Colour (of the PM?)" , "Colour (at No 11?)" , "Four-point ball" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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