The European banking sector is notoriously fragmented. Most leading banks in each national market have no material presence in other markets, and no single bank is among the top five in even three large European countries. Other industries are not similarly fragmented. In the automotive, pharmaceutical and telco industries, for example, pan-European players have emerged over the past few decades.

This fragmentation reduces the efficiency not only of European retail banking but of the capital markets. Capital that could cross borders within a bank must instead be transferred through external transactions, often flowing through London – pre-Brexit, at least. The access of small and medium sized businesses to capital is reduced and economic growth is slowed.