The paper focuses on the impact of diversification on bank performance and how consolidation through mergers and acquisitions (M and A) affects the banking sector's stability in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The paper finds that a lower level of loan portfolio diversification...

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) sharply increased over the last two decades. It is often pointed out that cross-border capital reallocation is partly the result of financial liberalization policies, government policies and regional agreements. In this paper, we identify some of the...

The establishment of the Banking Union and the introduction of the European Single Rulebook seek to pave the way for a single banking market and to break the nexus between banks and sovereigns. Ideally, banks should be subject to a common set of rules and do business across the Banking Union...

The introduction of the euro opens the door to a major advance in our understanding of how a common currency affects economic activity ranging from trade and foreign direct investment to wage-setting behaviour and corporate business strategies. Regarding the euro's trade effects we confirm the...

The global financial crisis (2008-09) led to a sharp contraction in both Euro Area (EA) and US real activity, and was followed by a long-lasting slump. However, the post-crisis adjustment in the EA and the US shows striking differences - in particular, the EA slump has been markedly more...