The Bank as a Cross-Border Enterprise : Borders and Complementary Nature with the Insurance Sector

The search for sources of complementary income to the one from traditional activity, not subject to the capital requisites set out by the prudential legislation, has led banks towards the insurance market, with different modes compared to the specific strategic goals. This paper proposes to investigate the reasons, types and consistencies of the integration between banks and insurance companies within the realm of a detailed examination of the structural and operational evolutions of the insurance market, wherein the more traditionally financial products (life insurance policies) are characterised by new elements which increasingly correspond to the contractual specifics of so-called asset management