Mergers and acquisitions have created banking groups whose home market encompasses the whole of Europe. In Italy as well, foreign intermediaries hold substantial market shares in such fields as securities trading on electronic markets and business services, including the placement of corporate bonds.
Success in the retail market, on the other hand, requires a knowledge of the social, economic and institutional characteristics of the place of business and experience in dealing with small firms and households. Collaboration arrangements with local banks and aggressive commercial policies can only substitute partially and temporarily for the informational advantages of local roots.