A journey through western europe's top international financial centres (IFCs) by bank profitability is a rollercoaster of hopeful highs and dire lows, as the region's lenders have taken diverse paths over the past year. Despite similar macroeconomic and regulatory environments, some hubs have performed much better than their neighbours, either in terms of total aggregate size of pretax profits or because of notable improvements in year-on-year profits. Paris leads the table with $31.l6bn in aggregate pre-tax profits for the banks headquartered there, according to their 2015 annual statements, a 40% improvement on the city's previous financial results. However, London, Stockholm and Madrid, which follow immediately after, have all seen profits shrink.
展开▼
