Banking concentration and financial reorganization: Greece, Portugal, and Spain in the post-crisis period

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how banking concentration and financial reorganization have occurred during the post-crisis period in Greece, Portugal and Spain, highlighting the continuity of three worrisome trends related to financial stability: an increase in bank asset volume, centralization of capital, and lower average profitability for banking activities. The methodological approach combines the review of the heterodox economic literature with the analysis of the financial statistics of the main banks in the three countries in the interpretation of the crisis. The article is divided into four sections: the first part briefly discusses the theoretical nature of the process of concentration and centralization of bank capital; the second section discusses the role of banks in the Eurozone crisis; the third section examines some statistics on the dynamics of the banking sector in both countries; and some conclusions are made in the final section.  JEL codes: B26, G01, G2, G21