YENER ALTUNBAS is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Wales, Bangor, UK. Author of a number of articles on the structure and efficiency of banking markets, his main fields of research include the study of European banks, efficiency, stock market analysis, electoral studies, regional economics and urban economics. BLAISE GADANECZ is with the Bank for International Settlements, Switzerland. His research covers a range of banking topics, such as the term structure of credit spreads in project finance, the micro-structure of international syndicated loan and bond underwriting markets, a