The FINANCIAL — On 1 January 2013 there were 7,059 MFIs resident in the euro area, compared with 7,533 on 1 January 2012.
In relative terms, the decrease was particularly pronounced in Slovakia (-30%), Luxembourg (-22%), France (-9%), Spain and Finland (both -8%). In absolute terms, Luxembourg (-124), France (-105) and Italy (-55) were the main contributors to the net decrease of 474 units in the euro area.
Since 2011 a substantial decrease in the number of money market funds (an MFI sub-sector) has been recorded in the euro area (-519 over two years), partly on account of their new definition under Guideline ECB/2011/13, which is more closely in line with that used for supervisory purposes. In addition, the contraction in this sub-sector continued during 2012, most prominently in Luxembourg (-128) and France (-84).
Despite the enlargement of the euro area through the accession of Greece (2001), Slovenia (2007), Cyprus and Malta (both 2008), Slovakia (2009) and Estonia (2011), the number of MFIs in the euro area has decreased by 28% or 2,797 institutions since 1 January 1999. On 1 January 2013 Germany and France accounted for 42% of all euro area MFIs, approximately the same share as recorded on 1 January 2012.
On 1 January 2013 there were 9,076 MFIs resident in the EU, a net decrease of 511 units (-5%) since 1 January 2012. Compared with the situation on 1 January 1999, when there were 10,909 MFIs in the EU, there has been a net decrease of 1,833 units (-17%), despite the addition of 1,608 MFIs on 1 May 2004, when ten new Member States acceded, and of a further 72 MFIs on 1 January 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU. The vast majority of euro area MFIs are credit institutions (i.e. commercial banks, savings banks, post office banks, credit unions, etc.), which accounted for 85.5% of MFIs (6,019 units) on 1 January 2013, while money market funds accounted for 14.0% (987 units). Central banks (18 units including the ECB) and other institutions (35 units) together accounted for only 0.2% of the total number of euro area MFIs.In the euro area, Germany and France accounted for 41.9% of all MFIs. Italy, Austria, Ireland and Luxembourg accounted for a further 35.3%. Over the past 14 years (1999-2013) noteworthy developments in national MFI sectors have included a significant increase of 477 units in Ireland over the period as a whole. [2] At the same time there were relatively large falls of 59%, 46% and 42% respectively in the number of MFIs in the Netherlands, France and Germany and lesser declines in Spain (37%), Luxemburg (36%), Portugal (30%), Greece (27%) and Belgium (24%; see Table 1 below).
Among the non-euro area EU Member States, Poland had the largest number of MFIs (696), representing 8% of MFIs in the EU, or 35% of MFIs in the non-euro area EU Member States. The other main contributors to the number of MFIs in non-euro area EU Member States were the United Kingdom (20%), Hungary (12%), Sweden (9%) and Denmark (8%). Between the beginning of 1999 and 1 January 2013, there were considerable reductions in the number of MFIs in the United Kingdom and Denmark, by 27% and 24% respectively. As ECB said, on 1 January 2013 there were 623 branches of non-domestic credit institutions resident in the euro area. These branches accounted for 10% of all euro area credit institutions. 107 of these branches (17%) were located in Germany. Belgium, Estonia, Slovakia and Greece had the largest number of foreign branches as a proportion of the total number of credit institutions, at 58%, 50%, 50% and 42% respectively. The head offices of the majority of the foreign branches in euro area countries were located either in another euro area country (62%) or in the United Kingdom (16%).
On 1 January 2013 there were 259 branches of foreign credit institutions resident in non-euro area EU Member States. Of these, by far the largest proportion (51%) was located in the United Kingdom. The head offices of the majority of the foreign branches in non-euro area EU Member States were located either in euro area countries (53%) or in other EU Member States (19%).
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