Until recently, banks were selling foreign activities and merging with banks in their home country.
But I’ve noticed a renewed appetite for foreign expansion, especially in niche sectors like private banking:
Société Générale (France) buys LeasePlan (Netherlands) (2022)
Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) buys Compagnie de Banque Privée Quilvest (Luxembourg) (2022)
Crédit Agricole (France) acquires Degroof Petercam (Belgium) (2023)
ABN AMRO (Netherlands) buys Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe (Germany) from China’s Fosun International for €730 million (2024)
BPCE (France) buys Nagelmackers (Belgium) from China’s Anbang (2024)
UniCredit (Italy) buys Aion Bank (Belgium) (2024)