Moreover, the lack of transparency and of a legal infrastructure for enforcing contracts and collecting debts in Russia are a prime cause of the dearth of financial intermediation in Russia at this time. Nonetheless, the competitive pressures toward convergence will be a formidable force in the future if, as I suspect, additional forms of financial intermediation are seen as benefiting an economy.
Moreover, a broader financial infrastructure will likely also strengthen the environment for the banking system and enhance its performance. A recent study by Ross Levine and Sara Zervos suggests that financial market development improves economic performance, over and above the benefits offered by banking sector development alone.