In some countries, banks have been active participants in equity markets but their small presence in debt markets may be partly explained by the less developed nature of debt markets, particularly in Asia. In India, the banking system which incidentally has been dominated by the public sector, played a pioneering role in initiating growth of mutual funds, merchant banking and other financial services.
For Spain, see for example Cuerpo, Carlos and Pontuch, Peter, (2013), ‘Spanish housing market: adjustments and implications’, European Commission– ECFIN, 10(8). 2 See Garrido, José, Anke Weber, and Emanuel A. Kopp, (2016), ‘Cleaning-up Bank Balance Sheets: Economic,  Legal, and Supervisory Measures for Italy’, IMF Working Paper WP/16/135. 3 The Draft Guidance to banks on non-performing loans can be found here.