Most importantly, the degree of concentration in local banking markets, both urban and rural, declined modestly, on average, during this period. Local markets are the very markets that are the focus of virtually all of our antitrust analysis because they are the markets where most households and small businesses conduct the vast majority of their banking business.
Our exercise is published in the form of a CGFS Report, which can be found at the web-site of the Bank of International Settlements.1 I will first provide some background on the role of insurance companies and pension funds, then elaborate on the main changes concerning international accounting standards and the regulatory front, before presenting some views on potential financial system implications. 1.