European banking: Homeward bound

In the 1990s the pack of European banks ploughed into the emerging markets. Now a perfect storm is brewing – the eurozone crisis, deleveraging and tighter financial regulations – the pack is heading home. Could the retreat have some benefit for EMEA?

On the sidelines of a conference in Prague this year, a central bank governor from the central and eastern European region spotted a Washington-based powerbroker for the international banking industry in the crowd of policymakers and financiers. The monetary policy official marched towards him and, unprompted, proffered his thoughts on the state of global finance. Barely pausing after introducing himself, he issued a stark warning: “I was a banker in the communist era when we were banned from developing cross-border financial markets.

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