European-wide data concerning both companies and households indicate that the credit rationing phenomenon, which has been predicted by theory, does in fact occur to a significant degree in the European credit market. Among SMEs, micro companies are most vulnerable and the current economic crisis...

This article compares German and Belgian laws with regard to security interests in corporeal movables, economically analysing the differences to reach a normative conclusion. Belgium is currently implementing a major reform in this field, which, combined with the different stance of both regimes...

Credit markets consistently fail to bring supply and demand together, which, as was first pointed out thirty-odd years ago, is a consequence of adverse selection and moral hazard, and leads to welfare losses. Economists worldwide have developed theories on using collateral as a means of reducing...

The ECRI Statistical Package 2013, Lending to Households in Europe has revealed that European households registered a second consecutive year of falling real values of loans: 2012 followed the historical first drop recorded in 2011. While debt reduction proceeds across the continent,...

The fall in economic output all over Europe since 2008 has had important consequences for household liabilities. Major growth in demand and supply for household credit products has generated an increase in household debt, which contributed to growth rates during the pre-crisis period but – in...

This paper sketches the main features and issues related to recent market developments in global transaction banking (GTB), particularly in trade finance, cash management and correspondent banking. It describes the basic functioning of the GTB, its interaction with global financial markets and...