European banking consolidation still 5 years away

Europe will have to wait at least five years before banks begin to consolidate across borders, as they wrestle with low interest rates, regulatory reforms and the need to overhaul technology, bank executives said yesterday.

Lenders are facing growing pressures from politicians and consumers to refocus their business models and cut costs, pushing consolidation down the list of management priorities, Frederic Oudea, the chief executive of Société Générale, told a conference yesterday.

“Consolidation is not at all on top of the agendas of bank CEOs.