Universal banking, US banking reform and financial competition in the EEC 1

Abstract

Economists and policy makers in Europe and the United States have devoted increasing attention towards the German financial system. In the new Single European Market, the German financial system, characterised by universal banking with unrestricted entry into all types of financial market, is expected to become the dominant form. The German kind of financial system has also been suggested as an alternative to the segmented US financial system. It is argued that the success of the German system has less to do with the freedom granted to universal banks than with its approach to regulation and supervision.