... Comparing ex- and post-merger performance among Europeanbanks, Vander Vennet (1996) finds that domestic mergers of similar-sized partners are profitability-enhancing.10ECB Working Paper Series No. ... (OOR/TA). The focus or exposure to off-balance- 15ECB Working Paper Series No. 398October 2004sheet activities (OBS) is measured as the ratio of off-balance-sheet activity to total assets(OBS/TA). ... 24,629 65,373 18,202 2,554 40,211Liquid-assets-to-deposits ratio30.7 28.2 18.2 30.3 27.7 23.4Cost-to-income ratio68.7 69.8 17.0 71.5 72.0 19.1Capital-to-total-assets ratio6.9 5.0 8.6 6.9 5.7...