TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
1 OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
EU-15 BANKING SECTOR IN 2003 7
1.1 The external environment 7
1.2 Consolidation 8
1.3 Market structure 9
1.4 Internationalisation 10
1.5 Intermediation 11
1.6 Outlook 12
2 BANKING STRUCTURES IN THE NEW
MEMBER STATES IN 2003 13
2.1 The external environment 13
2.2 Market structure 14
2.3 Foreign presence 15
2.4 Products and distribution
channels 16
2.5 Financial structure and
performance 16
2.6 Conclusion 18
3 EU BANKS’ STRATEGIES AND STRATEGIC
DEVELOPMENTS 19
3.1 Strategic risks and other sources
of risk for 2004 19
3.2 Medium-term strategies 21
3.2.1 Current strategic targets 21
3.2.2 Expected strategic changes 22
3.3 Implications for the EU banking
sector structures 23
4 OUTSOURCING IN THE EU BANKING
SECTOR 25
4.1 What is outsourcing? 25
4.2 Perspective of EU banks 25
4.2.1 Relevance of outsourcing 25
4.2.2 Business models 26
4.2.3 Activities outsourced 27
4.2.4 Motives for outsourcing 28
4.2.5 Risks and risk mitigation 28
4.3 Perspective of EU authorities 30
4.4 Conclusion and outlook 31
ANNEX 1 STRUCTURAL INDICATORS OF THE
EU-15 BANKING SECTOR 33
ANNEX 2 METHODOLOGICAL NOTE ON THE
STRUCTURAL INDICATORS 49