Europe’s Cross-Border Bank Mergers Hit 18-Year High

Cross-border mergers between European Union banks are reportedly at their highest level since 2008.

That’s according to a report Monday (Feb. 16) from the Financial Times (FT), which says that rising prices and share prices have ended a dealmaking drought and brought the sector to levels not seen since the Great Recession.

A series of multibillion-euro bank mergers helped to drive the total value of cross-border European banking deals to 17 billion euros ($20 billion) last year, up from 3.4 billion euros in 2024, the FT said, citing data from Dealogic.

According to the report, policymakers have for years campaigned for greater consolidation in the European Union (EU) banking space, as executives argue that regulatory roadblocks and political pushback have caused the sector to lose more ground to larger American rivals.

Despite slow progress in streamlining cross-border banking regulations, there are indications that banks in the EU are still pushing forward on international expansion deals.

While progress in removing red tape around pan-EU banking has been slow, there are signs that European banks are pressing ahead with deals to expand across borders in any case.

UniCredit chief Andrea Orcel, who has previously lobbied for Europe to create larger and stronger banks to compete with U.S. peers, said last week “the competitive landscape is going to change dramatically,” pointing to new technologies and the rise of FinTech firms.

“I’m pretty convinced that there will be fewer banks [by 2030],” Orcel said. “There will be winners and losers and the dispersion between winners and losers will be much, much greater. Some will consolidate. Some will be wiped out.”

In other banking news, PYMNTS wrote last week about the “renaissance” happening in the bank charter space, in which the era of “apps floating above banks” is giving way to integration and reshaping the financial services landscape.

For example, on Feb. 2, Fifth Third Bancorp and Comerica merged together, forming an institution with around $294 billion in assets and suggesting a reshaping of how regional banks compete in mobile banking, commercial payments and middle-market services.

Other recent deals include Banco Santander’s purchase of the holding company for Connecticut-headquartered Webster Bank for $12.2 billion, and digital financial services giant Nu winning approval to establish a new national bank in the United States.

“Still, it’s important to stress that when it comes to banking charters, what looks like a shortcut can also turn into a long-term governance and reputational challenge if the regulatory winds shift following the current administration,” the report concluded.