Amazon.com description: Product Description: Focusing on changes in Western European banking from a functional perspective, "Changes in Western European Banking" aims to fill a conspicuous gap in the literature. Gardener and Molyneux provide a systematic study, concentrating on current trends and developments, and covering the whole of Western Europe, including Scandinavia and the Mediterranean countries. The authors identify key areas of banking activity and areas of concern to banks. It is divided into two parts. The main part of the text comprises 12 chapters covering the most important banking sectors - such as retail, corporate, investment and international banking - and such related functional areas as structure, performance, regulation, changes in balance-sheet structure, financial centres and security markets. The concluding chapter examines the broader, strategic implications of changes in European banking. The second part is a statistical and country appendix which briefly analyses the banking systems of 17 European countries.