Q 01/05

Which country adopted the euro and joined the Schengen Area on January 1, 2023?

A) Croatia

B) Romania

C) Hungary

D) Bulgaria

Answer · why

A) Croatia

It was the first eurozone enlargement since Lithuania joined in 2015, and the first Schengen enlargement since Liechtenstein in 2011.

Q 02/05

Which country became NATO's 31st member on April 4, 2023, doubling its border with Russia?

A) Sweden

B) Finland

C) Georgia

D) Ukraine

Answer · why

B) Finland

Its neighbour to the west had applied at the same time but had to wait until March 2024 for Hungary's ratification.

Q 03/05

Which US lender failed on March 10, 2023, the largest such failure since 2008?

A) Signature Bank

B) PacWest Bancorp

C) Silicon Valley Bank

D) Republic First Bank

Answer · why

C) Silicon Valley Bank

It was the 16th-largest bank in the country, and its collapse rippled through tech start-ups around the world that held deposits there.

Q 04/05

Which San Francisco-based lender was auctioned by the FDIC to JPMorgan Chase for $10.7 billion in May 2023?

A) Wells Fargo

B) Silvergate Bank

C) Western Alliance Bank

D) First Republic Bank

Answer · why

D) First Republic Bank

The sale made it the second-largest bank failure in US history, behind only Washington Mutual in 2008.

Q 05/05

Which bank bought Credit Suisse for 3 billion francs in a Swiss-brokered deal in March 2023?

A) UBS

B) Julius Baer

C) BNP Paribas

D) Deutsche Bank

Answer · why

A) UBS

The takeover ended 167 years of Credit Suisse history and created a single dominant Swiss banking giant.