Sisällysluettelo : Bank of Finland. Financial market report

Abstract

1 Financial intermediation 4 1.1 Households invest abroad via mutual funds and unit-linked insurance 4 1.2 Financial markets moving into virtual reality should the authorities follow? 6 2 Banks and insurance corporations 8 2.1 Banks' business expanded and operating profits improved in 2006 8 2.2 Continued good performance in the US banking sector 10 2.3 Iceland's financial sector expanding robustly 12 2.4 Are there barriers to competition in the EU retail banking market? 14 2.5 Favourable situation in the insurance sector 16 3 Securities markets 19 3.1 Nordic banks' ratings 19 3.2 STEP-by-STEP: transparency is improving in the European money market 20 3.3 Streamlined processes provide competitive advantage in e-trading 22 4 Infrastructure 24 4.1 Non-financial corporations lack knowledge of the Single Euro Payments Area 24 4.2 TARGET2-Securities project moves ahead 26 5 Key regulatory and supervisory initiatives 28 5.1 ECOFIN Council adopts Payment Services Directive 28 6 Key corporate arrangements and events in the financial sector 30