This is even more important since the size of this new market-based credit system has been growing almost uninterruptedly throughout the crisis – at least partially compensating for the reduction of the credit from traditional banks. According to the ECB Banking Structures Report published last October, 14 the size of the shadow banking sector more than doubled over the past decade.
The total assets of this sector in the euro area amounted to € trillion in mid-2014 (from € trillion at the end of 2013), against € trillion for the banking sector.