This book presents an in-depth appreciation of key topics related to the behaviour of financial institutions in the crisis and stresses areas of major research interest. It covers a selection of papers specialising ranging from the analysis of bank and stock market performance in the crisis, to other areas such as microinsurance and social lending.

MARTA DE LA CUESTA UNED, Madrid, Spain
JOSANCO FLOREANI University of Udine, Italy
PASQUALE LA GANGA Bank of Italy, Rome
FRANCISCO JAVIER GARAYOA Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain
ELISABETTA GUALANDRI Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy
TED LINDBLOM University of Gothenburg, Sweden
FABIOMASSIMO MANGO University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy
PIERLUIGI MORELLI Centro Europa Ricerche, Italy
LUIS PEDAUGA University of Granada, Spain
GIOVANNI B. PITTALUGA Università di Genova, Italy
MAURIZIO POLATO University of Udine, Italy
CRISTINA RUZA - UNED, Madrid, Spain
CARLOS SALVADOR Universitat de València, Spain
ELENA SEGHEZZA Università di Genova, Italy
MARIO LA TORRE University of Rome 'La Sapienza', Italy
SANTIAGO CARBO VALVERDE University of Granada, Spain, and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
GIANFRANCO A. VENTO Regent's College, London & Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome
MAGNUS WILLESSON Linnaeus University, Sweden

Introduction; J.F.de Guevara  & J.M.Pastor Financial Stability and Economic Growth; S.C.Valverde  & L.Pedauga Financial Crisis and EU Banks' Performance; T.Lindblom  & M.Willesson Diversification, Diversity and Systemic Risk in European Banking; P.Morelli , G.B.Pittaluga  & E.Seghezza Basel III, Pillar 2: The Role of Banks' Internal Control Systems; E.Gualandri Shadow Banking and Systemic Risk: In Search for Regulatory Solutions; G.A.Vento  & P.la Ganga Social Lending in Europe: Structures, Regulation and Pricing Models; M.La Torre  & F.Mango Banks Ratings, Financial Crisis and Size of the Entities; C.Salvador , J.M.Pastor  & J.F.de Guevara Stock Exchanges Mergers at the Aftermath of the Crisis. New Insights; M.Polato  & J.Floreani Sustainability and Financial Inclusion on the Microinsurance; M.de la Cuesta , C.Ruza  & F.J.Garayoa