New bottles, old wine? Concentrations and performances in Italian banking 1980s-2000s

During the last quarter of the 20th century, the Italian banking system underwent wide and deep changes, that produced a great transformation in both its structure and its main actors. Regulation-led banking typologies – nation-wide banks, savings and loans banks, cooperative banks, etc. – were abandoned and functional and geographical specificities faded away. During fifty years, financial repression flattened the dynamic and size of main banks. The relaxing of regulation from the 1980s produced some immediate effects. First, it spurred big banks to rush the market and especially weaker banks. Secondly, many big historical brands disappeared, all southern Italy’s big banks became insolvent and were bailed out, a wave of merger and acquisitions completely reshuffled the structure of the banking system.