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Simon Rex
This publication summarises new research that measures changes in corporate diversity in retail financial services markets.
This constructs an index of diversity from four sub-indices covering firm size, ownership, funding approach and geographic spread. Diversity as measured by the aggregate index declined after 2004 as provision in the UK mortgage and retail savings markets shifted towards larger, wholesale funded, London-centred plc banks.
A fall in the diversity of the financial services sector is potentially both damaging the resilience of the financial system and reducing effective competition for consumers.
The research was conducted by academics at the Oxford University Centre for Mutual and Employee-owned Businesses, and was commissioned by the Building Societies Association (BSA).