European banks are accelerating consolidation as they seek to reduce their growing gap with US competitors. At the beginning of the 2010s, the largest American bank was worth about twice as much as Europe’s leading bank. Today, J.P. Morgan’s market capitalization is close to €800 billion, while Spain’s Santander is valued at just over €160 billion, according to the information presented in the source article.
Italy’s Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank, removed one of the final obstacles to its takeover by Intesa Sanpaolo on October 29. The transaction would unite Italy’s second-largest bank with an institution that has operated independently for more than five centuries.
Other potential and completed deals point to a broader European trend. UniCredit, Italy’s largest banking group, is expected to acquire Germany’s Commerzbank in the coming months. In France, BPCE bought Portugal’s Novobanco on April 30 and announced on October 6 that it had taken a 7% stake in Spain’s Sabadell. Six days later, Crédit Agricole acquired Germany’s IKB.
Cross-border banking mergers had previously faced strong political resistance. National leaders often opposed transactions that could weaken the identity or control of domestic financial institutions. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blocked a proposed Generali-Natixis deal in December 2025, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz initially resisted UniCredit’s move for Commerzbank before eventually accepting it.
Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta welcomed the recent change, saying that banks were finally moving after years of inactivity. His April 2024 report called for a European savings and investment union, including closer integration in finance, energy and telecommunications. Of the three sectors, finance is currently advancing the fastest.
Sources: Le Monde Économie.