In the larger European economies the sector is less developed: the corresponding figure is about 35 per cent in France and Germany and below 30 percent in Italy and Spain. While in most emerging markets banks are still the largest sector of the financial system, in some of them non-bank finance has grown very rapidly.
Incidentally, we will be getting a better idea of how German banks are coping with the currently low level of interest rates next week – on 18 September, to be precise, when the Bundesbank and BaFin will be releasing the findings of a joint survey on the low-interest-rate environment. What can banks do?