Author Philip Molyneux: Professor Philip Molyneux is Dean of the College of Business, Law, Education and Social Science, and Professor of Banking and Finance at Bangor University, UK. His mian area of research is on structure and efficiency of banking markets and he has published widely in this area. He has also published a variety of texts on banking areas and acted as a consultant to: New York Federal Reserve Bank, the World Bank, the European Commission, the UK Treasury, Citibank Private Bank, Barclays Wealth, McKinsey & co, Credit Suisse and various other international banks and consulting firms.

• Introduction Evolution of the Bancassurance Concept Bancassurance and the United Kingdom Bancassurance in Europe The Theory of Corporate Diversification Review of the Empirical Studies on Bank Diversification and Risk The Risk Effects on Bank Diversification into Bancassurance Regulatory Issues Conclusion