Business Models in European Banking: A pre-and post-crisis screening

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 conducted of the performance, stability, risk, efficiency and corporate governance of 26 major European banks, before, during and after the financial crisis, with a view to identifying key strengths and weaknesses inherent in the dominant business models in light of the upcoming regulatory changes.

The study was commissioned by the Greens-European Free Alliance Political Group in the European Parliament and directed by Dr. Rym Ayadi, Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Financial Institutions and Prudential Policy research unit at CEPS. The research team included Emrah Arbak, Researcher and Willem Pieter de Groen, Research Assistant in the same unit at CEPS. David T. Llewellyn of Loughborough University, the Cass Business School in London and the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration contributed an overall review and written contributions, including the Foreword.