ON A DAY when the share prices of banks such as Barclays and Société Générale were falling by more than 10%, another cri de coeur, from a smallish regional Danish bank, is unlikely to have captured much attention. In mid-August, the chief executive of Denmark’s seventh-largest bank by assets, Spar Nord, was quoted as saying that it was increasingly difficult for banks of its size to access international funding, and would remain so for a while.
Seasoned watchers of the Nordic banking scene are unlikely to have been surprised by the news from Spar Nord, given the severity of Denmark’s bank resolution scheme, which is generally regarded as the harshest in Europe. There was nothing in August’s story to suggest that Spar Nord is in danger. But a number of smaller Danish banks have already gone to the wall, and Standard...
