The completion of the European Single Market Programme (SMP) and the launch of "Euroland" are bold statements on the EU and its future. Within this economic process, the particular importance of the banking and financial services sectors is widely emphasized. This collection explores the strategic impact of the Single Market Programme and European Monetary Union on European banks and banking systems. The contributors examine 11 banking systems: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK. Thoroughly up-to-date and with a common thematic...

This text is concerned with the increasingly important and problematic area of financial exclusion, broadly defined as the inability and/or reluctance of particular societal groups to access mainstream financial services. This has emerged as a major international policy issue. There is growing evidence that deregulation in developed financial sectors improves financial inclusion for some societal groups (more products become available to a bigger customer base), but may at the same time exacerbate it for others (for example, by emphasizing greater customer segmentation and more emphasis on...

This volume of essays comprises a systematic collection of views from scholars and practitioners on the future of financial systems and services and reflects the fact that the financial industry worldwide is involved in a major restructuring process.