These 19 firms collectively hold two-thirds of the assets and more than one-half of the loans in the U.S. banking system, supporting a very significant portion of credit intermediation in the United States. The assessment process can perhaps best be characterized as a simultaneous examination of 19 large bank holding companies that addressed all major categories of assets as well as revenue expectations.
Furthermore, population ageing in most industrialised economies – and a significant increase in the old-age dependency ratio and higher healthcare and long-term care expenditures – will exert growing pressure on public finances. Sound fiscal policies will need to make provisions for the effects from population ageing. b) The second principle pertains to the full completion of the single market.