Few sectors of the global economy equal banking and financial services in dynamism or structural change. In the mid-1980s, regulatory and technological change were the main catalysts for the transformation of the industry, making entrenched competitive structures obsolete and mandating the development of new products, new processes, new strategies, and new public policies toward the industry.

In Global Banking, authors Roy C. Smith and Ingo Walter assess the transformation that is taking place worldwide in the financial industry—its causes, its course, and its consequences. Beginning with an overview of recent developments, the authors consider the major dimensions of international commercial banking, including the issues of cross-border risk evaluation and exposure management and the creation of a viable regulatory framework in a global competitive context. They link the field of international commercial banking with international investment banking, and identify the factors that distinguish winners from losers in each activity of global banking. The book concludes with a section on the problems of strategic position and execution.