Global economic climate
- Aside from the US, the global economy continues to slow down, as GDP growth rates and forecasts further decrease
- Economic outlook for Germany substantially reduced
- Italy may become main challenge for the euro in 2013 due to elections and highest refinancing needs
Key banking drivers
- Stock market volatilities back to pre-debt-crisis levels
- Historically low EURIBOR not reflected in lending/deposit rates
- Investment banking activities with solid recovery – corporate bond issuances outperform M&A activities and equity offerings
State of the banking industry
- Q4 strong quarter for banking industry outperforming all other industries – upward trend continues as market capitalization reached highest level in two years
- Outlook for 2013 mixed due to increased rating downgrades
Special topic: The impact of negative interest rates
- Negative interest rates pose several challenges for banks
