Germany’s largest banks are poised for robust operating performance in the quarters ahead, resilience which they will need to absorb the relatively high cost of risk amid lingering concerns about asset quality, says Scope Ratings.

Italian NPL collections in September nearly doubled compared with August (+95%). However, they remain significantly below the levels recorded in the same period last year, a trend that has persisted throughout the year.

The recent collapse of First Brands, in casting a shadow over the direct-lending sector in the US, raises important questions: does the rapid growth in private credit amplify corporate credit risk and will this be different in Europe compared with the US?

Climate change can materially affect the creditworthiness of all issuer types and asset classes, so we have harmonised our general framework for capturing this risk, which can be applied to produce issuer-specific Key Climate Risk Indicators (KCRIs).

The uncertain political environment is likely to constrain market sentiment in Q4 2025, potentially dampening the earnings momentum French banks built in the first half, supported by strong revenues from retail banking, insurance and wealth management.

GlobalCapital’s call for nominations for its European Securitization Awards 2026 is now live.

Aligning the tracks of Europe’s digital finance landscape will reinforce the euro’s global role, increase resilience against economic fragmentation and enhance European autonomy. Slow movers among European banks could face revenue and funding pressures.

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.

Almost EUR 1.9bn has been repaid from 13 securitised CRE loans in 2025. This is below EUR 7.1bn of issuance, but the decrease in delinquent loans from 37% in 2024 to 21% offers some comfort around the performance and fundamentals of underlying properties.