European banks continue to prosper in 2005. The French newspaper Les Echos published on 12 and13 July, as it does each year, an annual classification table of the 100 top European banks, based on statistics from the agency Fitch Rating. The general economic environment remained positive in 2005, according to the survey, with a demand for credit from retail banks that remained robust, a profitably situation in investment banking and the whole equation accompanied by a level of lending...