Brussels, 01/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 30 June, the European Central Bank issued a report showing that the size of the banking sector and the total assets managed in the EU28 and the eurozone shrank in 2013 compared with 2012.
In total, 4,588 banks and stand-alone credit institutions were active in the EU28 on 31 December 2013. The banking sector comprised 36 national banks (the same as on 31 December 2012, 37 on 31 December 2011), 506 medium-sized financial institutions (494 on 31 December 2012, 513 on 31 December 2011), 3,019 small banks (3,080 on 31 December 2012, 3,144 on 31 December 2011) and 1,027 subsidiaries or branches of foreign banks registered in the EU28 (1,302 on 31 December 2012, 1046 on 31 December 2011).
Of the total €39.468 trillion of bank assets managed in the EU28 (€43.612 trillion on 31 December 2012, €44.904 trillion on 31 December 2011), €32.381 trillion of which are in the eurozone (€35.471 trillion on 31 December 2012, €35.926 trillion on 31 December 2011), big banks took the lion's share of nearly 60% of the total, managing €23.665 trillion of assets on 31 December 2013 (€26.289 on 31 December 2012, €26.780 on 31 December 2011). Medium-sized banks and banks owned by foreign companies manage similar market shares, €7.607 and €7.087 trillion of bank assets respectively.
Since the beginning of the financial crisis, banks have been slimming back their balance sheets by deleveraging. The ECB is currently doing an asset quality review of the eurozone banking sector before it becomes the eurozone's bank supervisory body in November 2014. (MB)