Although I am against overstressing the influence of the euro, I nevertheless would like to show now that the new currency has contributed to the expected developments in the money, equity and bond markets. As expected, also the competition in the banking industry has intensified. Contrary to the expectations was, however, the performance of the euro on the foreign exchange markets.
Second, technology has allowed organizations to separate the various business functions, such as product marketing, credit review and administration, and asset funding, and to locate each of these functions based on separate criteria, such as the availability of labor or the tax environment.