Unfinished Business

Putting European Banking (and Europe) Back on Track

Axel Wieandt

• Publisher: V&R Unipress
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9783847107156
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783847007159
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

The banking system in Europe is large in relation to the economy. It is characterized by universal banking, and driven by a significant number of globally active national champions that are systemically important. Banks perform a vital role for the economy. But their leverage and deposit funding makes them inherently vulnerable to bank runs. Axel Wieandt's role as former CEO of Hypo Real Estate, which he assumed immediately after the Lehman crisis in the fall of 2008, makes him uniquely placed to both examine the causes of the current situation of the European banking system and make suggestions for getting it back on track. His starting point is a comprehensive description of the European banking system and an analysis of the role of banks in the economy. He goes on to examine the root causes and implications of the Great Financial Crisis for the European banking system. He argues for full implementation of Banking Union with greater emphasis on market discipline and accountability.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Body
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• Chapter 1: Unfinished business – an introduction
• Part I – Where we started from
• Chapter 2: Europe's banking landscape
• Chapter 3: Banking – from the bottom up
• Chapter 4: Banks' specialness – and the need for regulation, supervision, and safety nets
• Part II – European banking and finance in less troublesome times
• Chapter 5: Re-engineering of European banking
• Chapter 6: One market, one money – (too) many banking systems
• Part III – Crisis hitting and multiplying
• Chapter 7: From “turbulences” to the Great Financial Crisis
• Chapter 8: Mopping up – containing the crisis
• Part IV – Crisis becoming existential
• Chapter 9: Early lessons drawn: shackled by principles?
• Chapter 10: Then come Greece and Ireland: “unnecessary, undesirable, and unlikely”
• Part V – Finishing the business, in a principled way
• Chapter 11: Centralization of financial policies – if Greece (or Ireland) were Texas
• Chapter 12: Blueprints, optimal policies to choose from
• Chapter 13: Banking union – realm of the possible
• Chapter 14: The larger context – how much (political) union does the EMU need?
• Epilogue
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Figures
• List of References
• Index of Names
• Subject Index