Less dilution of equity capital certificates issued at a discount to book value would support savings banks’ credit profiles, but maintaining the cap on ECC holder representation on supervisory boards could have negative implications.

Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium need far more investment to modernise their electricity transmission grids through 2034 than southern European countries, hence the importance of having secured most of the EUR 200bn-plus in required funding.

Corporate NPL ratios remain high, particularly in Germany, France, Austria and Belgium, while geopolitical risks and trade tensions have rendered the economic outlook uncertain. Our baseline of a moderate deterioration in asset quality remains intact.

Following MPS’s acquisition of Mediobanca and BPER’s takeover of BPSO, we expect Banco BPM to play a more active role in Italy’s banking consolidation wave, which is being driven by financial as well as strategic and political factors.

US plans to slap hefty tariffs on pharmaceutical imports have led European firms to speed up US investment and reset supply chains, the full credit impact of which will depend on the products targeted and whether the extra costs compromise innovation.

LANXESS moves to divest Envalior stake, supporting deleveraging strategy and investment-grade credit metrics

Europe’s real estate market will continue to diverge in credit quality amid residual investor nervousness about assets and owners exposed to refinancing risk, rising refurbishment costs, the uncertain economic outlook and adverse trends in demand.

Two years of rating pressure on European corporates shows signs of easing but credit risk remains tilted to the downside for the rest of 2025 given geopolitical uncertainty, economic headwinds and challenging financing conditions for the smallest firms.

Scope Ratings has published an update to its Financial Institutions Rating Methodology. No outstanding ratings are impacted.

The planned acquisition of Ceconomy AG by Chinese retailer JD.com could mark an important shift in European consumer-electronics retailing by creating a more formidable, deep-pocketed player in an already highly competitive sector.