The role and development of EU capital markets

The 1992 'Single Market' failed to create a real single market for financial services across Europe. However, the boom in bond issuance (stimulated by EMU) and the coincidental equity issuance boom have both led to dramatic changes in the infrastructure of financial markets. So, the EU is well past the point of no return in the creation of a single financial market. If regulatory reform can be certain, and coincide with the rising pillars of reform in the dealing and settlement systems, then a dramatic revolution of European financial services will have been achieved - within a decade of the start of EMU.