Author: Philip Lane

An interesting new IMF WP available here.

Summary: This paper introduces a comprehensive database on bank ownership for 137 countries over 1995-2009, and reviews foreign bank behavior and impact. It documents substantial increases in foreign bank presence, with many more home and host countries. Current market shares of foreign banks average 20 percent in OECD countries and 50 percent elsewhere. Foreign banks have higher capital and more liquidity, but lower profitability than domestic banks do. Only in developing countries is foreign bank presence negatively related with domestic credit creation. During the global crisis foreign banks reduced credit more compared to domestic banks, except when they dominated the host banking systems.

The FT report on tonight’s announcements is here.

In response to a question from Pearse Doherty, Michael Noonan provided a useful summary of the sequence of bank recapitalisations so far: available here.

Arthur Beesley has a nice article on the Danish experience here.

• Joschka Fischer, former German Vice-Chancellor
• Paul Gillespie, columnist at The Irish Times
• David O’Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer of the European External Action Service

Date:                            Monday 23 January 2012 from 7.15 to 8.45pm

Venue:                         Edmund Burke Theatre, Arts Building, TCD

European integration has been described as riding a bicycle – if you stop, you fall off. Many claim that the only solution to the eurozone crisis is greater European integration, but it is clear that there is little popular appetite for this.

The event will be chaired by Elaine Byrne, Lecturer in the Political Science Department, TCD.

More details here.