Europe’s leading banks have weathered an unprecedented global health and economic crisis relatively well. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking 2021 reveals that most of the region’s lenders have maintained healthy capital and liquidity positions despite the prolonged nature of the difficulties they have endured. This, in large part, reflects the fact that the region’s financial institutions have worked hard to strengthen their balance sheets in recent years.
Beyond the numbers, however, it is also worth noting the outsized role that Europe’s banks have played in supporting businesses, households, health services and community groups, through the darkest hours of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many lenders provided much-needed financial donations to key public and private actors on the front lines of the crisis, while national banking systems stepped up to disburse government assistance in order to keep economies afloat.
