In the wake of the financial crisis, authorities throughout Europe have been keen to promote more competition and encourage new entrants into the banking sector. On the evidence of this year’s top 25 banks from western Europe ranking, their efforts are meeting with little success – at least not at the top of the table.
The top 14 banks in the table are in exactly the same positions as they held in the 2012 ranking with the only change of any significance being the $11.46bn or 8% increase in HSBC’s Tier 1 capital as the bank seeks to comply with new capital requirements.
