Add to this the economic difficulties facing much of the region – minimal economic growth, plummeting real estate markets and high unemployment – and the picture looks bleaker still. But some banks are better placed to deal with this gloomy outlook than others, and are equally well positioned to benefit from any improvement in the economic or market outlook for the region. BNP Paribas is without question the stand-out bank in western Europe. Its platform is much larger and more diverse than any of its competitors’, in no small part because of its acquisition of Fortis Bank in Belgium and the Netherlands. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
