In the old days, when banking was stable and regulated securely in a national setting, three or four leading banks tended to form an oligopoly: Barclays, Lloyds, Midland, and National Westminster in the United Kingdom; Commerzbank, Deutsche, and Dresdner in Germany.
过去，金融业在国家层面上受到稳妥监管，整体比较稳定，往往是三四家大银行形成寡头垄断：英国有巴克莱（ Barclays ）、劳埃德（ Lloyds ）、米德兰（ Midland ）和国民威斯特敏斯特（ National Westminster ）；德国有商业银行（ Commerzbank ）、德意志（ Deutsche ）和德累斯顿（ Dresdner ）。一直有人怀疑，存在着正式或非正式的银行业卡特尔，操纵着市场上的放贷条件和利率水平。对于此类怀疑，监管者的普遍态度是睁一只眼闭一只眼。