Between 1995 and 2004 the share of bank and postal deposits fell from more than 40 per cent to barely 25 per cent and that of publicsector securities from 23 to 7 per cent, while the incidence of private-sector bonds, equities and investment fund units increased. Fund units are now as important as in the other leading industrial countries.
The broad approach driving the recent regulatory initiatives is that any person with a need to access financial markets should be able to do so with ease at minimum cost. Principle-based regulations for interest rate derivatives and foreign exchange derivatives aim at achieving this 2/5  BIS central bankers' speeches  broad objective.