Gli aiuti di stato ai gruppi bancari europei: un’analisi su dati di bilancio

This paper investigates the structural conditions of the Euro area banking groups, starting from the study of their financial statement data, and distinguishing between those intermediaries that have needed public aid and those that have not, despite their same size. The results achieved for the period 2007-2010 enable us to unveil relevant relationships between the policies of assets and liabilities’ management, and the recourse to public aid. A particularly clear variable, which has emerged, is the level of participation/involvement in the derivative market, inferred from the presence of its products in the financial statements. Given that this presence does not seem to decline but, on the contrary, to increase after the public aid has been assigned, some careful considerations need to be carried out on the importance and width of the restructuring plans provided and their monitoring.