1: Introduction 1
2: European financial markets in history 5
3: Market structures 15
Financial Systems,Markets and Intermediaries 15
Financial Market typology 24
Non –Tradables and Non-Transferables 25
Securities 28
Derivatives 37
Financial Systems in Euripe 46
Bank-Based Systems 49
Market-Based Systems 52
Financial Systems in Eastern Europe 55
External Markets 63
Euromarkets 64
Offshore Centres 69
Virtual Market Places 72
4: European financial markets in the world economy 79
Banks 79
Exchanges 83
Venture capital 92
Payment,Clearing and Settlement Systems 96
5: Market mechanisms and prices 115
Diversification,Hedging and Arbitrage 115
Diversifying Risks 115
Matching Positions 121
Exploiting Price differences 123
Market dynamics and the Role of Expectations 124
Nominal Comparisons 124
The Role of Prices 125
Risk Premia and spreads 127
The Formation of Expectations 130
Price Patterns 134
6: Policy issues 147
Policy Targets 147
Stability 147
Policy Cooperation 155
Limits to Sovereignty 168
Financial Supervision 168
Monetary Policy Cooperation 173
EMU and Financial Integration 193
7: Conclusions 207
App A: Bill of exchange as medieval credit instrument 209
App B: The Tobin tax 211
App C: CFA franc zone 217
App D: Rating agencies 219
App E: Optimum currency area 223
App F: Luxembourg 225
App G: Nonlinearities 229
App H: Value at risk 233
App I: Legend to the FESE diagram of the European exchanges 237
References 239
Index 247