The rates of monetary and credit expansion remain rapid, reflecting the still low level of interest rates in the euro area. In particular, loans to the private sector continue to grow at double-digit rates on an annual basis, with this rapid growth remaining broadly based across the household and corporate sectors.
The Financial Stability Board has therefore opted to define the shadow banking system fairly broadly as “the system of credit intermediation that involves entities and activities outside the regular banking system”. Put simply, this definition covers bank-like entities and bank-like activities which are not subject to banking regulation.