The Changing Structure of Banking Firms and Industry : An Analysis through the European Banks’ Balance Sheets

This paper analyzes the changing structure of the Italian and European banking firms and industry. The main aim is to identify the fundamental changes of the underlying economics of banking through the analysis of banks' balance sheets. In this paper, we provide evidence that commercial banks have progressively moved from traditional banking to new forms of financial intermediation. The paper discusses the implications of this changes in terms of business models of banking firms, business operations of banks, structure of the financial system and banking industry