Has the European Commission had a policy of taking stability into consideration when making horizontal merger decisions in the commercial banking sector?

Award date: 30 November 2015Supervisor: Professor Giorgio MontiThe fundamental activity of commercial banks is the distribution of deposited capital through loans to firms and individuals. For a number of reasons, this role confers on commercial banks a degree of economic importance far in excess of a comparable firm in a relatively isolated market. The most significant reason for this heightened economic importance is that commercial banks increase the efficiency of capital allocation. The position of commercial banks enables them to carefully evaluate whether or not a firm or individual should be in receipt of capital in the form of a loan, and then to coordinate low worth firms and individuals to lend to them