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Western EuropeFebruary 3 2004

Cross-border pioneer fights on

Dexia is the result of a pioneering cross-border merger in Europe. Its experiences demonstrate the difficulties of executing an international strategy across a region within which regulations differ, writes Brian Caplen.
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The most frequently asked question in international banking is: when will there be a major cross-border merger in Europe? Usually the answer is that the European market is not sufficiently integrated for it to make economic sense. The answer should be: it has already happened, look at Dexia.

Dexia is “the first real cross-border merger between European banks”, says its chairman and CEO, Pierre Richard, referring to the 1996 merger of Crédit Local de France and Belgium’s Crédit Communal – two institutions that specialised in municipal finance – that created Dexia. “It’s the only true European bank, not only because of the merger, but because of the income breakdown by country.”

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