Banks, finance and supervision Even though banks’ balance sheets continued to strengthen in 2018, the effects of the crisis have not yet been fully reabsorbed and are delaying their response to the profound changes in the industry’s market structure, customers’ habits, financial regulations and technology.
As in the rest of the euro area, profitability, though recovering, remains low and the incidence of operating costs is still high; these trends are reflected in banks’ share prices. Some medium-sized banks are still experiencing difficulties, which are being dealt with by the Italian and European supervisory authorities and by the government.