Western Europe

This year’s dovish turn in global monetary policy is difficult for most eurozone lenders, but it’s propping up Greek banks, spurring demand for NPL sales; but if these banks return to normality and grow their loan books, negative rates could still end up causing them pain.

The Trade Club Alliance, a new 14-bank partnership to match SME exporters and importers, reflects greater willingness among banks – especially in Europe – to work together against low-cost newcomers, while relinquishing their own global ambitions.

Clients have had a much easier time than their banks in Germany, but fintech innovation is creating ways for the likes of Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank to thrive, even in the country’s SME heartlands.

The head of transaction banking at SEB says: 'Corporate clients ask us what we are doing to become a green bank.'

The global head of transaction banking at StanChart says: 'We will see better results if we work together.'

The bank's global head of liquidity and cash management says: 'We need to stay on top of emerging trends.'

The bank's managing director of commercialisation and propositions for global transaction banking says: 'Why shouldn’t banking be just as simple as booking a hotel or ordering a taxi?'

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean up water supplies, prevent the loss of biodiversity, mitigate fire and flood risk and meet the nutritional requirements of a growing population the world must improve its regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices – new tools and support from the financial services industry are needed to fund that transition.

Deutsche Bank’s decision to exit equities but continue with ECM is a startling move, but it reflects the reality of the industry as much as it does the bank’s own uncomfortable position.

As entrepreneurs seek to improve institutional-grade custody and security for trading in crypto assets, conventional financial market participants remain suspicious.

Deutsche Bank has taken the radical step of getting rid of its equities business, but thinks it can still offer ECM. Can it?

Corporates' increasing need to use treasury resources more efficiently has persuaded BNP Paribas to partner with fintech Kantox to offer a new dynamic hedging solution to clients.

The company is expanding its UK-tested platform through an agreement with Euronext to bring the retail bid into follow-on offers from listed SMEs across Europe.

The Deutsche Bank CFO is adamant that not only are his bank’s new ambitions achievable despite a fragile environment, but clients are also supportive.

The delay in the introduction of strong customer authentication under the second EU Payments Services Directive has not been universally welcomed, but it represents a valuable opportunity to make consumers more security-aware.

Germany is famous for its engineering and infamous for its banks – but how does a $4 trillion economy get by with only one battered global systemically important bank? And is the answer also the problem or an example to follow?

Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.

It has just received a very public vote of no-confidence from non-bank liquidity providers, but concerns around transparency are yet to outweigh the perceived benefits of last look.

With a balance sheet of €486 billion, KfW is Germany’s third-largest bank and a key player in German finance. Does it provide a protective cloak to the country’s financial well-being or cast a shadow over its banking sector?

Europe’s banking sector’s investment in fintech and ESG merits more confidence than their exposure to negative European Central Bank rates might suggest. On these counts, the US banks may be lagging.

The bid by HKEX for the London Stock Exchange is bold and has scale on its side, but faces regulatory barriers – and the fact the LSE has a different idea of what an exchange should look like.

Bankers in Europe have discussed pooling resources across different institutions for some years, as the threat from bigger US rivals has become painfully obvious.

It is less than two and a half years until Libor, the benchmark on which trillions of dollars-worth of financial instruments are based, will disappear. That is a hopelessly ambitious timetable in which to complete what has been called the largest financial engineering project in history. Even if chaos is averted, the way in which banks lend, and indeed how corporates borrow, may never be the same again.

Banks are caught in the middle of regulatory pressure from above and corporate inertia from below when it comes to transitioning away from Libor, but they are the lynchpin on which the whole process depends.

Clubby governance structures in the EU are obstructing the fight against money laundering.

Once a global wealth management (WM) powerhouse, DBWM no longer sits in the top 10 when it comes to AuM or stature.

As Europe’s financial conduct authorities get tougher, banks will be even less likely to support trade between the EU and states that are small and poor.

To date, the transformation of financial services through new technology has been a success story, but regulators are becoming more nervous.

European banks are trying to put a devastating series of money-laundering scandals behind them, but the crisis is far from over. The extra costs it implies are hitting them at the worst possible time, while the damage to their reputations will be even harder to repair.

Money-laundering scandals have dealt another blow to the reputation of Europe’s financial architecture. Does the EU stand any chance of convincing the rest of the world that it is getting tough on financial crime and fixing the leaks in its system?