Banking without borders
Europe may have rejected the EU constitution in recent days, but European banks are creeping across borders more than ever, much to the dismay of those who believe that nation-states should have their own banks.
The blockbuster merger that may start the rush to Europe-wide banking is the planned merger between Italian UniCredito SpA of Milan and Germany's HVB Group AG (Hypovereinsbank), the second largest bank in Germany. The €15.4 billion deal will, it is claimed, make for the "first truly European bank". Also included in the deal is Bank Austria AG and some Eastern European operations.
This merger follows last year's acquisition of England's Abbey National Bank by Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano. Until then the largest cross-border deal in Europe. Elsewhere, Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is pursuing Iatly's Banca Nazionale di Lavoro in a €6.4 billion deal. And Dutch bank ABN Amro is after Italy's Banca Antonveneta with a €6.4 billion bid.
The UniCredito-HVB deal has already sparked the interest of the management of Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest, which stated recently that it was shopping for a cross-border transaction. (deutsche Bank had flirted last year with a deal with US-based Citigroup.)
As so often happens, one big merger can start a stampede, or rather, a game of musical chairs, as no-one wants to be left standing alone when the music stops.
Meanwhile French banking giant BNP Paribas m through its Bank of the West division, continued to expand its US holdings. The company announced it will buy a Nebraska-based savings and loan, Commercial Federal, for $1,35 billion. Commercial Federal is the 12th largest thrift institution in the US. Bank of the West earlier this year also acquired North Dakota-based Community Bankshares Inc. Bank of the Wets is now the third-largest bank headquartered westof the Mississippi.
7:02:35 PM 
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