Finance & economics | Credit where it’s dull

European banks and the price of safety

Why the continent’s lenders are so different to those in America

16 March 2023, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: View of the skyline of Frankfurt's banking district. The Swiss central bank's aid for the ailing Credit Suisse acted as an immediate calming pill for the German stock market. After the slide the day before, the Dax climbed again ahead of the eagerly awaited key interest rate decision by the European Central Bank (ECB). Photo: Helmut Fricke/dpa
Image: DPA

“Greece is not Switzerland,” quipped an analyst on March 20th after the Greek central-bank governor assured investors his country’s banks would not suffer from the implosion of Credit Suisse the weekend before. Investors are anxious that troubles could contaminate euro-zone lenders. Their share prices have sunk since March 9th and are still volatile.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Euro groans”

From the April 1st 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Finance & economics

China meets its official growth target. Not everyone is convinced

For one thing, 2024 saw the second-weakest rise in nominal GDP since the 1970s

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the launch of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 10th 2025

Ethiopia gets a stockmarket. Now it just needs some firms to list

The country is no longer the most populous without a bourse


Shibuya crossing in Tokyo, Japan

Are big cities overrated?

New economic research suggests so


Why catastrophe bonds are failing to cover disaster damage 

The innovative form of insurance is reaching its limits

“The Traitors”, a reality TV show, offers a useful economics lesson

It is a finite, sequential, incomplete information game

Will Donald Trump unleash Wall Street?

Bankers have plenty of reason to be hopeful