ABSTRACT
The commercial banks in this study are large public companies quoted on the world's major stock exchanges. With the exception of the publicly owned French banks their shares are widely held by a large number of investors including resident and non-resident individuals, investing institutions and businesses. They are ‘household names’ in their own country, and are often well known in foreign countries. Their activities are closely watched by regulatory authorities, competitors, depositors, shareholders, loan stock holders, and scrutinised in detail by investment analysts and the financial press. They are also the legitimate concern of employees.
