The share prices of Europe’s banks have been soaring in recent years after the European Central Bank ended a period of negative interest rates in 2022, giving a massive boost to bank profitability. The bloc’s lenders have since stepped up investor payouts.

Santander is currently the only EU bank to exceed €100 billion in market capitalization, but various other lenders including BNP Paribas SA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA aren’t far behind. Beyond the EU, Switzerland’s UBS Group AG has a higher market value. London-based lender HSBC Holdings Plc traded above that mark as well in recent years, including in the period leading up to Brexit.

While the ECB last year started reversing some of the rate cuts, the more recent specter of massive public spending in Europe has given a fresh boost to bank stocks. The region’s banks recently had their best winning streak since before the turn of the millennium.

Source: Fortune