The faster rate of expansion in the aggregate volume of financial assets, that is the process of financial deepening, is the outcome of the direct relationship established on the financial markets between the firms and the public sector issuing securities, on the one hand, and the investors purchasing them, on the other.
In Italy, between 1995 and 2003 the volume of funds raised directly on the financial markets by firms issuing shares, bonds and other instruments grew from 20 billion euros to 65 billion. The amount of households’ financial wealth consisting of corporate securities increased from 180 billion euros to 470 billion, that is from 19 to 36 per cent of GDP.