s enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing

12 member countries of the European Union adopted the Euro in 1999. (Denmark, Sweden and UK are using their own currency only). Investors used to invest domestically mainly, but with the Euro introduction more investors are now attracted to euro areas. Euro is a floating exchange rate, therefore market demand and supply controls the value of the currency. As a result the market value of the Euro is the reflection of its real value.

There was the fall of the euro against the US dollar from its introduction to the end of 2001, obviously it’s not just the euro that has fallen in value so has the British pound and the Japanese yen, all of which have similar patterns, decreasing value through to June and then picking up from July onwards. With the euro falling to as low as it did you could argue that maybe this was a good thing, European exports would become more competitive in world markets because of the lower exchange rate and for some companies it was probably beneficial but generally it was not.

Foreign exchange markets have seen a decline in the number of banks and other market making facilities quoting foreign exchange products, the increase in global bank mergers has hugely reduced the number of banks marketing FE services. Since the introduction of the Euro, it has increased the need for more European bank mergers to gain competitive advantages over others.

The introduction of the euro has integrated the national bond markets of the member states creating a larger, harmonized and much more liquid euro bond market it has been the financial market segment where the influence of the single currency has been the quickest and most obvious. Even before the introduction of the euro, the European bond markets had a fairly international character anyway but now it is much more attractive to investors and borrowers alike.

The introduction of the euro has unified eleven relatively small debt securities markets into the second largest corporate bond market in the world. This has not only eliminated the foreign exchange rate risk but added to the relaxation of technical restrictions that had in the past led to the segmentation of markets, the result of this is reflected in higher issuance volumes.

This unification of bond markets has been beneficial to all, investors have been able to distribute funds in a wider range of activities, across borders and the development of an active repurchase market and borrowers have benefited from having easier access to a large investor base and not just people within the EU, the EU bond market now attracts investors from all over the world. It allows non EU countries to diversify their international borrowings, the success of the Euro in bond markets has made competition between the stock exchanges even more competitive and has encouraged markets to merge in order to maximize efficiency and meet the growing demand, this has created new exchanges such as Euronext, Clearnet and Clearstream etc.

It also allows national governments to finance themselves more cheaply, some of the poorer members of the EU have benefited greatly from being able to do as they are now able to attract investors that before may not have found that country an attractive place for investment. A government for example might issue index linked bonds with a good rate of interest, in this way they are making a statement to people about what they expect to happen in the future in terms of interest and inflation rates to the country and this is likely to encourage people to invest.

For corporate bonds, the impact of the euro has had a similar but not such a dramatic impact, firms can raise capital much easier and the market has become much more diversed and more competitive, firms now are being looked at by potential investors in comparison to other similar firms in other EU countries in the same market rather than just its domestic market making it much more attractive to non European investors.

The introduction of the European single currency has reduced the number of Eurocurrencies but not the demand for Euromarket products denominated in euros. The impact on the Eurocurrency markets is similar to that of the bond market but, again instead of having separate Eurocurrency markets there is just one, larger much more deeper and liquid market and by removing exchange rate risk this has encouraged demand for cross border equity investment.

This has benefited the poorer member states which had weaker currencies previously for example Portugal, before the euro the Portuguese escudo was not that popular outside its own country or a particularly strong currency but now since Portugal is part of the EU its markets are much more attractive to other EU and non EU countries.

For lenders the introduction of the euro has increased transparency between markets and countries, for example interest rates offered by financial institutions will now be under closer analysis by lenders and not just within the EU but foreign investors as well, because they will be able to see these differences much easier and therefore shop around for the best deal.

For banks it has enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing

ncreased the need for more European bank mergers to gain competitive advantages over others.

The introduction of the euro has integrated the national bond markets of the member states creating a larger, harmonized and much more liquid euro bond market it has been the financial market segment where the influence of the single currency has been the quickest and most obvious. Even before the introduction of the euro, the European bond markets had a fairly international character anyway but now it is much more attractive to investors and borrowers alike.

The introduction of the euro has unified eleven relatively small debt securities markets into the second largest corporate bond market in the world. This has not only eliminated the foreign exchange rate risk but added to the relaxation of technical restrictions that had in the past led to the segmentation of markets, the result of this is reflected in higher issuance volumes.

This unification of bond markets has been beneficial to all, investors have been able to distribute funds in a wider range of activities, across borders and the development of an active repurchase market and borrowers have benefited from having easier access to a large investor base and not just people within the EU, the EU bond market now attracts investors from all over the world. It allows non EU countries to diversify their international borrowings, the success of the Euro in bond markets has made competition between the stock exchanges even more competitive and has encouraged markets to merge in order to maximize efficiency and meet the growing demand, this has created new exchanges such as Euronext, Clearnet and Clearstream etc.

It also allows national governments to finance themselves more cheaply, some of the poorer members of the EU have benefited greatly from being able to do as they are now able to attract investors that before may not have found that country an attractive place for investment. A government for example might issue index linked bonds with a good rate of interest, in this way they are making a statement to people about what they expect to happen in the future in terms of interest and inflation rates to the country and this is likely to encourage people to invest.

For corporate bonds, the impact of the euro has had a similar but not such a dramatic impact, firms can raise capital much easier and the market has become much more diversed and more competitive, firms now are being looked at by potential investors in comparison to other similar firms in other EU countries in the same market rather than just its domestic market making it much more attractive to non European investors.

The introduction of the European single currency has reduced the number of Eurocurrencies but not the demand for Euromarket products denominated in euros. The impact on the Eurocurrency markets is similar to that of the bond market but, again instead of having separate Eurocurrency markets there is just one, larger much more deeper and liquid market and by removing exchange rate risk this has encouraged demand for cross border equity investment.

This has benefited the poorer member states which had weaker currencies previously for example Portugal, before the euro the Portuguese escudo was not that popular outside its own country or a particularly strong currency but now since Portugal is part of the EU its markets are much more attractive to other EU and non EU countries.

For lenders the introduction of the euro has increased transparency between markets and countries, for example interest rates offered by financial institutions will now be under closer analysis by lenders and not just within the EU but foreign investors as well, because they will be able to see these differences much easier and therefore shop around for the best deal.

For banks it has enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing

ttracts investors from all over the world. It allows non EU countries to diversify their international borrowings, the success of the Euro in bond markets has made competition between the stock exchanges even more competitive and has encouraged markets to merge in order to maximize efficiency and meet the growing demand, this has created new exchanges such as Euronext, Clearnet and Clearstream etc.

It also allows national governments to finance themselves more cheaply, some of the poorer members of the EU have benefited greatly from being able to do as they are now able to attract investors that before may not have found that country an attractive place for investment. A government for example might issue index linked bonds with a good rate of interest, in this way they are making a statement to people about what they expect to happen in the future in terms of interest and inflation rates to the country and this is likely to encourage people to invest.

For corporate bonds, the impact of the euro has had a similar but not such a dramatic impact, firms can raise capital much easier and the market has become much more diversed and more competitive, firms now are being looked at by potential investors in comparison to other similar firms in other EU countries in the same market rather than just its domestic market making it much more attractive to non European investors.

The introduction of the European single currency has reduced the number of Eurocurrencies but not the demand for Euromarket products denominated in euros. The impact on the Eurocurrency markets is similar to that of the bond market but, again instead of having separate Eurocurrency markets there is just one, larger much more deeper and liquid market and by removing exchange rate risk this has encouraged demand for cross border equity investment.

This has benefited the poorer member states which had weaker currencies previously for example Portugal, before the euro the Portuguese escudo was not that popular outside its own country or a particularly strong currency but now since Portugal is part of the EU its markets are much more attractive to other EU and non EU countries.

For lenders the introduction of the euro has increased transparency between markets and countries, for example interest rates offered by financial institutions will now be under closer analysis by lenders and not just within the EU but foreign investors as well, because they will be able to see these differences much easier and therefore shop around for the best deal.

For banks it has enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing

e market rather than just its domestic market making it much more attractive to non European investors.

The introduction of the European single currency has reduced the number of Eurocurrencies but not the demand for Euromarket products denominated in euros. The impact on the Eurocurrency markets is similar to that of the bond market but, again instead of having separate Eurocurrency markets there is just one, larger much more deeper and liquid market and by removing exchange rate risk this has encouraged demand for cross border equity investment.

This has benefited the poorer member states which had weaker currencies previously for example Portugal, before the euro the Portuguese escudo was not that popular outside its own country or a particularly strong currency but now since Portugal is part of the EU its markets are much more attractive to other EU and non EU countries.

For lenders the introduction of the euro has increased transparency between markets and countries, for example interest rates offered by financial institutions will now be under closer analysis by lenders and not just within the EU but foreign investors as well, because they will be able to see these differences much easier and therefore shop around for the best deal.

For banks it has enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing

s enabled them to syndicate large loans to companies very quickly. The inter-bank lending system basically makes possible one bank to raise large amounts of capital to borrow a company by contacting other banks they feel comfortable with and offering them a share of the loan in return for interest. Likewise if a large company needs to raise large sums of cash, this would not normally be possible by just one bank but they now can have access to capital within twenty four hours of a lead bank successfully syndicating the loan.

In general, the impact of the euro on organized markets for equities appears to be less strong and less immediate than on other segments of the financial market. Since the introduction of the euro, Europe's equity markets have seen increases in the number issued. By most standards the euro equity market has recorded record growth in recent years even though it is considerably smaller than the US equity market but privatisations, mergers and acquisitions have made the euro equity much more desirable than before.

There has been a fall in the specific exchanges for stocks of small growth companies and not much progress has been made towards linking the spaces that already existed between equity trading infrastructures in the euro area in enhancing the development of a pan-European equity environment.

Before the euro there were various restrictions on investors which limited the ownership of foreign assets but the introduction of the euro has removed these restrictions between the member countries. So far there has been a mixed response by individual investors towards the euro, obviously inside the euro area there has been strong interest as private investors with portfolios look to diverse their holdings into other areas but investors outside the EU are still a bit apprehensive about investing within the EU.