This text aims to provide a detailed explanation of the workings of the UK financial system. It details both the institutional structure and the economic theory behind the financial system, and discusses the extensive changes brought about by the single European market of 1992.

This collection examines the design of financial systems for central and eastern European countries engaged in the transition to market-based economies. It highlights the need for better approaches to measuring performance and providing incentives in banking and for financial mechanisms to encourage private-sector growth. Written by leading European and North American scholars, the essays apply modern finance theory and empirical data to the development of new financial sectors.

It is now ten years since the former Soviet Union collapses and the countries of Europe and Central Asia abandoned central planning. Enough experience has accumulated to allow a more reflective study of the transition period. One of the most critical elements of the transition to a market-based economy has been the establishment of the institutions and markets that constitute a financial system. This book examines financial transition through the lens of flow of funds accounts. These accounts have been used in the OECD countries for many years as an aid in analyzing money flows around their financial systems. This is the first time, however, that an attempt has been made to interpret financial transition from this perspective and it has yielded what the authors consider to be new, useful insights into the processes.The book reviews the evolution of financial systems in eight transition countries: Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Romania. Each chapter draws upon a flow of funds analysis to illuminate the relationship between macroeconomic performance and the evolving pattern of financial flows through the emerging markets and institutions. The introductory chapter discusses the nature of the flow of funds approach and its applicability to transition economies, while another chapter compares and contrasts the macroeconomic and financial performances of the eight countries by focusing on the orientation of sectoral imbalances within each economy and the nature of financing flows associated with them.

This paper looks at empirical evidence and economic theory in order to find some guidelines for building the institutions of a financial system. It argues that in the countries in transition, priority should be given to stimulating information generation about investment opportunities, and to ensuring substantial external evaluation of companies' potential. The actual evolution of financial systems in Central and East European countries shows, however, that banks are playing an increasingly important role, and that very close links are developing between the banking and the industrial sectors. If banks are to become not only privileged creditors, but also shareholders of firms, the information needed for efficient restructuring may become the victim of excessive commitment.

Essays on the design of financial systems for countries in transition to a market-based economy.