UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, last month announced a €15bn deal to merge with Germany’s HypoVereinsbank.
The news will be welcomed by the Italian president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who has a background in banking and is an unapologetic enthusiast for European integration.

The medium-term outlook for profits at US banks is gloomy, according to Andrew Smithers and George Leventis.

It will take more than the Italian bank’s takeover of the less than attractive German institution to prompt a torrent of consolidation.

In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in consumer lending. At the same time, despite high average annual growth rates in this segment for the past three years (48%-50%), the market is set to expand further. The retail loans/GDP ratio is not more than 3% compared with 74% in the US, 52% in the EU and an average of 20% in the developing countries.

Having rewritten Lloyds TSB’s poor growth story, CEO Eric Daniels now wants to strengthen the bank’s franchise, he tells Karina Robinson.

Rumours of mounting bad debt problems in retail banking have led Russia to pass a law allowing credit bureaux to set up – but their proliferation is getting out of hand. Ben Aris reports from Moscow.

Though it is aiding the general clean-up, deposit insurance is unlikely to change the face of Russia’s banking sector any time soon.

Russia’s banks have been working to boost their reputation on the international capital markets. Ben Aris reports on how their bonds have surged in popularity.

Gazprombank has broken away from giant parent Gazprom to diversify and build on its foundations, its chief financial officer Alexander Sobol tells Ben Aris.

Mortgages could be the next big thing in Russia if the retail banks and the Kremlin have their way.