During my research on banks in Europe, I came across some strange things. Here’s an example. Some banks have a banking license in a country, while the banks themselves say they are no longer active there:
LBBW has a banking license in Luxembourg according to the ECB.
LBBW doesn’t mention Luxembourg on its global locations site. A 2012 article says LBBW pulled out of Luxembourg.
Credit Europe has a banking license in Belgium according to the ECB.
But Credit Europe says it has stopped its activities in Belgium in 2016.
Bank of Scotland has a banking license in France and in the Netherlands, according to the ECB. But the bank says it does not operate internationally.
What’s going on here?