A. Entering the 21st century UK banks appear to be at their strongest for decades. Consolidation and restructuring have occurred at a rapid pace Many mergers and acquisitions are undertaken with the aim of increasing or protecting market share, improving shareholder value getting cost savings, improving economies of scale or generating new cross-selling opportunities. Britain now has six universal banks offering a wide range of financial service products including corporate and personal lending, saving, insurance and other personal finance products.
B. The OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) supervises national banks and enforces federal banking laws. It rules: on new charter arid merger applications for national banks, and conducts basic research on banking and the economy. The tools have changed, but for the OCC, the basic mission remains the same as in the days of Lincoln: to ensure a safe, sound and competitive national banking system that supports the citizens, communities, and economy of the United States.
C. Today, the financial institutions of Japan are well on the way to regaining robust health. The recovery is going well enough that the government has removed partially one of the measures that has helped maintain public confidence in the financial system—an unlimited guarantee on bank deposits. Since 1996, the government has offered an unlimited guarantee on bank deposits--a support for financial institutions which permitted depositors to ignore fundamental questions about the viability and stability of their banks. Even more encouraging has been the progress the banks have made in reducing their non-performing loans. The ratio of bad loans in the largest banks has been cut in half.
D. The stability of the German banking system is historically based on the universal banking approach. Doing business through diversified banking institutions and/or bank groups has historically allowed for risk mitigation over various business lines. However, the driving forces behind the structural changes are increasingly proving universal banking as too cumbersome and cost-intensive. The banking industry is currently in the process of making adjustments to the organization at structure and strategic positioning of bank conglomerates, bank groups and strategic alliances with more significant measures to follow. The banks are making strong efforts to focus on core bank activities, to use existing capital resources more efficiently, to close down retail branches, and to bundle or outsource back-office functions.