enhances the incentives of banks to expand within Euroland. Yet, while the currency bias in bank portfolios will be eliminated …

,300 mergers that took place between 1978 and 2001 to analyse the determinants of international bank mergers. We test the extent to … regulated environments are less likely to be the targets of international bank mergers. Hence, the lifting of regulations can … spur growth in cross-border bank mergers. Also, mergers tend to be less frequent if information costs are high. …

Europe, bank finance plays a relatively important role, and efforts have been made at creating a level playing field for …