The Structure of Ownership in the Financial Sector across the European Union

The purpose of this book is to analyse the structure of ownership in the financial sector in the selected old (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Sweden, the United Kindom) and new (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) EU member states. This subject is particularly important to the proper understanding of the scale and scope of the process of financialisation in the EU countries. General objective of the book is the investigation and evaluation of the structure of ownership in the financial sector across the EU and its consequences with the special consideration of relations between this process and withdrawal of the State from the financial sector. In order to accomplish this target, extensive research is undertaken. It encompasses the analysis of the types of financial institutions functioning in selected countries. Areas of competition, cooperation and interdependence between different types of financial institutions are identified, as well as similarities and differences in the present composition and structure of the financial sector in particular EU countries and factors behind inter-country differences. Finally, comparative analysis of evolution of structure of financial sector and its driving forces in particular countries and group of countries is presented.

Introduction
1. The structure of ownership of financial institutions – theoretical
considerations and empirical evidence
2. Institutions in the financial sector across the European Union
2.1. Banking sector
2.2. Insurance sector
2.3. Collective investment institutions sector
3. The ownership structures in the financial sector in the European Union
3.1. The largest domestic and foreign financial institutions
3.2. The ownership structure of banks in the selected EU member states
4. Consolidation and privatisation and their impact on the structure
of ownership of financial institutions in the European Union
4.1. The merger and acquisition activity as a background for the concentration process in the EU financial sector
4.2. Privatisation in the new EU member states and its influence on ownership of banks – evidence from Poland and Hungary
5. Concluding remarks and policy recommendations
References
List of Tables
Abstract