In particular, the Eurosystem considers it highly desirable that the prices and settlement lags of cross-border transfers be similar to those of national transfers, whenever the applicable standards and procedures permit. Turning to the wholesale financial markets, progress has clearly been more rapid than for retail financial markets.
Already in the run-up to the introduction of the euro, but especially since 1 January 1999, there has been a large decline in transaction costs in many areas. In foreign exchange, interest rate and equity markets, bid-ask spreads often declined in 1999 compared with 1998, sometimes very significantly. Furthermore, trading activity expanded, particularly in some segments such as the private bond markets.