In the classic 1980s horror movie Return of the Living Dead, a swarm of zombies are wiped out only by blowing up an entire town and taking the living down with them.

Fast-forward 25 years and many European bankers are concerned that so-called "zombie banks", which are shored up by government support, are distorting pricing and competition in the European financial markets - particularly the loan markets - and threatening to undermine an already fragile recovery in the rest of the banking sector.