In this context, I can only mention them very briefly; there will be no attempt to do justice to the vast literature that exists on several of these topics (nor would I be the right person to do so).
My personal take on this – which dovetails with the second hypothesis I mentioned at the beginning of my speech – is that an increase in M&A activity, and thus a higher level of market concentration, can make sense from both an economic and a commercial perspective; that said, long-term success will be reserved for initiatives which ultimately bring forth a stable credit institution running a sustainable business model.