1 I cited some statistics: At the end of last year bank loans accounted for 40 per cent of the total financial liabilities of households and firms (financial debt plus corporate equity), compared with 15 per cent in the United States, 23 per cent in  1  2  “Finance for growth”, speech delivered in Sondrio at Banca Popolare di Sondrio, 12 September 2014.
BIS central bankers’ speeches  France and 30 per cent in the United Kingdom. Only Germany, another bank-centred” economy, had a share comparable to Italy’s.