The upturn in capital market financing was chiefly driven by four sets of financial market promotion legislation in Germany. The third legislation, dating from 1998, had the greatest impact on the volume of bank debt issuance. The financial crisis brought to a halt a trend of financial market liberalisation, which had been unfolding since the 1990s.
Having demonstrated the positive performance of the Austrian financial sector as well as its stability and soundness, I would now like to outline some major challenges that financial institutions face in the near future.