The Banking Union (BU): New Competitive Framework for Spanish and European Banks

• Main Authors: Ángel Berges, Emilio Ontiveros
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Deusto 2016-04-01
• Series: Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto
• Subjects: unión monetaria; unión bancaria; concentración bancaria
• Online Access: http://ced.revistas.deusto.es/article/view/1069

<p>The project of a banking union in Europe is the response from European authorities to the particularization of the crisis, triggered in July 2007 in the financial system of the United States, in some banking systems of the euro area. The severity of the vicious circle created between the deterioration of bank assets and the public debt of some governments was particularly intense until the summer of 2012, forced to solve one of the original limitations of monetary union. This article discusses the genesis of the project, its structure —the four pillars— and the resulting system-banking, with special attention to the dynamics of sectoral concentration, more intensified as a result of increased bank regulation.</p><p><strong>Received</strong>: 20 July 205<strong><br />Accepted</strong>: 27 January 2016<br /><strong>Published online</strong>: 30 April 2016</p>