Banks, stability and competition

Abstract

The importance of financial institutions as pivotal for the economy is largely acknowledged. Since they provide specific services, such as issuing loans and collecting deposits, and perform a number of peculiar functions, including maturity transformation and risk diversification, banks and financial intermediaries are often referred to as “special”. However, the risks they face are special as well. Being extremely leveraged institutions, banks walk on a very thin thread and, considering that they are nowadays world-wide connected, instability can rapidly spread over the system, even affecting the real economy. Therefore, traditional economic rules are not entirely suitable for banks, which require a particular attention from regulatory authorities and academics. This thesis focuses on two areas of remarkable importance, namely financial stability and banking competition, and develops within three chapters, as explained below. The aim of Chapter 1 is to highlight the relevance of financial stability and competition, also asking why regulators are extremely concerned about the two topics. The second and third chapters, then, start from the above premises with a specific focus on the Italian system. This is the backbone of the thesis: Italy is full of specificities, sometimes difficult to understand completely. Nonetheless, it is desirable that these specificities are protected and encouraged, since, very often, they have proven to be a strength... [edited by Author]