Prof. Dr. Stefan Gärtner

During the global  inancialcrisis, regional banks – dependent on local savings and only able 
to lend these savings to customers within their respective regions – helped avoid a credit 
crunch in some countries; while in others, they did not ful ilthis function. This paper ela
borates governance structures that in luencedthe success of regional banking systems  in 
Spain, with regard to regulation principles, the overall economic and political structures, and 
self-organisation of regional banks. With respect to the high importance of the decentralised 
banking sector in Germany, the paper compares the state of decentralised banking between 
Spain and Germany, concluding that the regional principle in Germany, a decentralized state 
structure with mechanisms of regional balance, and the self-governance of regional banks 
are important factors. 

oligopoly and other forms of market imperfection, consumption, saving and wealth, inancialcrises, banks, depository institutions, micro inanceinstitutions, mortgages, government policy and regulation, size and spatial distributions of regional economic activity