The Scale of Cross-Border Entry in EC Financial Services: an Aggregate Analysis

Abstract

This chapter provides an aggregate overview of cross-border trade activities, majority and minority acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances and de novo entry for the EC as a whole, as well as analysing trends for different EC countries. In order to evaluate the relative importance of cross-border entry activities in European financial services, these have to be assessed in a time-series and comparative perspective. In this chapter I therefore present and analyse existing and newly collected statistical data and thereby deal with the following questions:

• has there been an increase in cross-border entry activity in the most recent past and which form of entry has increased most significantly?

• can we distinguish significantly different trends in cross-border transactions for different EC countries?

• which countries are the main targets of foreign entry activity and which are the main acquirers?

• what is the preferred mode of cross-border entry?

• are there significantly diverging trends in entry activity by EC and non-EC institutions?