High costs, low margins, increasing regulation, strong competition from FinTechs: European banks were under severe pressure to change already before the coronavirus crisis. The crisis has raised this pressure.
Three decisive factors that will also determine the coming years are digitalisation, sustainability (ESG) and regulation.
At the same time, geopolitical fissures are growing in influence: these include both global fragmentation – especially with regard to relations between the US, China and Europe – and uncertainty as to the process of European consensus and Europe's future role in the world. We looked at these developments and came up with four scenarios that provide a framework for the strategic options of banks. Read more about it in our executive summary of the study "The future of the European banking sector – What comes after Covid-19?"
