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In this chapter we study the intra-group transactions between the parent bank and its foreign subsidiaries in European Union (EU) countries during the crisis. We use hand-collected data from annual statements on related party transaction and find that they may create a serious problem for the stability of the foreign banks’ subsidiaries. Moreover, as some of those subsidiary banks were large by assets in some of the member states the related party transactions with the parent bank created a serious threat to the host countries’ financial system stability. We attribute this transaction to the weak governance in foreign subsidiaries. We suggest improvements in governance as well as greater disclosure of related party transactions in bank holding companies in Europe.

A sensor to determine TOC is described. It is based on the photoassisted degradation of organic compounds concurring to TOC and on the determination of the resultant CO₂. The sensor was successfully tested on target molecules, demonstrating that the linear correlation constant between TOC values and produced CO₂ varies according to the considered compound so that absolute value determination is not possible in largely heterogeneous solutions but can only be referred to reference compounds on the TOC scale.