Performance and Efficiency of the Italian Banking System

The chapter describes the Italian banking system’s main performance figures between 1999 and 2010. The first part describes the economic and financial performance of the Italian banking system, providing a short international comparison for the five largest banking groups and then, in greater detail, examining trends (in terms of profitability, efficiency, risk level and solvency) from a strictly domestic viewpoint. The latter analysis also examines the main features of banks within the Italian system with regard to size and legal form. We the study moves on to illustrate the Italian banking system’s stock market performance, again by means of an international comparison and focusing on the main national figures. Both parts study the period from 1999 to 2010. The chapter concludes with a final comparison which attempts to link market performance with economic and financial results.