Managing early and mature markets in Europe: The UniCredit group

Abstract

Banking has become a global - or at least regional - industry; this is especially true within the European Union which has pledged to provide the free movement of people, goods and capital. Despite this fact, banking is heavily regulated on national levels; regulations are converging. According to Dermine (2006), the level of banking integration has increased significantly due to joint regulations, institutional integration and further due to mergers and acquisitions.