BIS Review 50/2008  1  Financial intermediation – at its best – ensures that savers receive the optimum return with the chosen risk profile, and that the most profitable investments are sought. Intermediation takes place across national borders, and the financial sector is at the forefront of globalisation. The importance of a well-functioning financial sector to a modern economy cannot be overrated.
All shifts in the structure of the economy naturally create frictions and human stress, at least temporarily. However, if we are able to boost our investment in people, ideas, and processes as well as in machines, the economy can readily adapt to change, and support ever-rising standards of living. BIS Review 95/1997