This paper shows that the abolition of state guarantees to publicly owned banks in Germany resulted in an increase in refinancing costs at German savings banks. Rather than being the result of increased market discipline, the increase in refinancing costs is shown to be driven by spillover...

We discuss the current state of the European banking system and the major challenges for the future. The low interest rate environment may give rise to asset price bubbles and interest rate risk, which should be counteracted by macroprudential regulation. Overcapacities in banking should be...