Let me now explain our definition of financial integration in more detail. One can say that a financial system consists of three principal components, namely the financial markets, the related financial infrastructure and the financial institutions.
The ECB’s definition of financial integration uses the term “market” in a broad sense, covering all possible exchanges of financial instruments or services, be it on an organised market, such as a stock exchange, or an over-the-counter market created by a financial institution’s supply of a financial instrument or service.