The consolidation of the banking industry in the Nordic region has ground to halt and is unlikely to progress further, according to Peter Staarup, chief executive of Danske Bank.

In an interview with Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish newspaper, Staarup said that the cross-border consolidation was unlikely given the different tax and regulatory regimes in the four main Nordic markets. Equally, domestic mergers were unlikely because individual markets had already become so concentrated that big mergers could be blocked by competition authorities.