Their total assets compared to their capital base can be 30-50 times larger, compared to ratios in the 20-30 range for US banks. That's clearly going to change, but it does matter what kind of assets you hold.

Highly regulated mortgage loans to domestic households are clearly a better proposition in France and Germany than in the US or UK, even if they hold the same kind of rating and capital requirement.

You simply cannot get a loan where debt service is more than 35% of your documented income in France - it's illegal.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes