After having considered the core activities of providing loans and accepting deposits in the first volume, the second volume of this textbook analyses banks in its wider economic context, that is in relationship with each other and other competitors and stakeholders. After studying the competition between banks and how this affects bank behaviour, this volume assesses how banks are managed internally; rather than taking the balance sheet of banks as given, it explores how an optimal balance sheet might look like, how employees are remunerated and how they are acting when representing the bank. The important topic of how bank failures can spread, systemic risk, is also considered, alongside an evaluation of the effectiveness of banking regulation. The final part considers the impact that banks have on the wider economy and how their decisions can affect macroeconomic outcomes.

Andreas Krause is Assistant Professor at the University of Bath, Great Britain, teaching and researching in banking and finance. He has published a large number of journal articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics, including payment cards, the systemic risk of banks, interbank markets, and strategic default of borrowers, amongst many others. He is also the author of Theoretical Foundations of Investment Banking, published by Springer in 2024.