THE GLOBAL BANK MERGER WAVE: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This paper reconsiders causes and implications of the global bank merger wave, especially for developing economies. Previous studies of the global bank mergers—that is, mergers between banks from different nations—had assumed that these combinations are efficiency‐driven, and that the U.S. case defines the paradigm for all other nations' banking systems. This paper argues that the U.S. experience is unique, not paradigmatic, and that bank mergers are not efficiency‐driven; instead, this merger wave has arisen because of macrostructural circumstances and because of shifts over time in banks' strategic motives. This paper argues that large, offshore banks often engage in cross‐border mergers because they want to provide financial services to households and firms that have reached minimal threshold wealth levels. For developing economies, this suggests that cross‐border acquisitions of local banks by offshore banks will have mixed effects; and it cannot be assumed that the net social impact is positive.