•  Yet small and medium-sized banks contribute to a great extent to the financing of the economy. Less significant institutions (LSIs) hold 19 per cent of the total assets  of the banking sector in the euro area; in some countries – such as Austria, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg – this share rises to over one-third.
•  In addition, small and medium-sized banks could be those suffering the most from the economic consequences of the pandemic. Could this create an unprecedented “too-many-to-fail” problem, difficult to address within the current framework?