This book investigates the merits of a diverse banking system with a special focus on the performance and role of cooperative banks in seven European countries where they are prominent (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). The theoretical and empirical arguments...

The next few years will be critical for Europe's banking industry as it faces a number of financial sector reforms that will have a decisive impact on the dominant practices and business models followed across the EU. This timely report presents the results of the first screening exercise...

Amidst talks of establishing an EU-wide banking union, the recent changes in the regulatory framework and the rethinking of the future of European banking structure, the future of EU bank regulation is inextricably linked to banks' business models. Using a sample of over 70 banks, which overlaps...

This Policy Brief provides a preliminary diagnosis of the proposed regulatory reforms contained in the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation (CRD IV-CRR), which translate into EU law the Basel III standards adopted by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision, and suggests avenues for...

This study comes in response to the continuing evolution of market structures and regulatory overhaul since the financial crisis of 2007-2009 in the US. The banking sector has largely suffered after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The initial context of decades of deregulation...

Casual observation shows that that the financial systems in the southern and eastern Mediterranean are unable (or unwilling) to divert the financial resources that are available to them as funding opportunities to private enterprises. Using a sample of northern and southern Mediterranean...

This MEDPRO Technical Report explores the relationship between financial sector development and economic growth, using a sample of northern and southern Mediterranean countries for the years 1985-2009. The authors included several variables to measure the development of the financial sector to...

This analysis of regulatory convergence shows that substantial improvements have been made in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs), yet they still suffer from key weaknesses in deposit insurance, entry obstacles, political interference and the strength of legal rights. In...

This paper aims at devising scenarios for the development of the financial system in the southern and eastern Mediterranean countries (SEMCs), for the 2030 horizon. The results of the simulations indicate that bank credit to the private sector, meta-efficiency and stock market turnover could...

Recent financial crisis has renewed attention on compensation schemes and their impact on risk-taking in depository institutions. Without ample theoretical and empirical backing, the recent policy proposals in the EU have suggested that long-term incentive plans that are closely linked to bank...