These initiatives clearly reflected not only factors specific to the euro area, but also other factors, such as the impact of new information and telecommunications technology. These new technologies seem to have led to a marked increase in the economies of scope and scale that can be achieved by stock exchanges through alliances or mergers.
At the level of the euro area, the process of consolidation of stock exchanges is taking place in the context of the integration of stock markets at area-wide level. In summary, both corporate bond markets and equity markets in the euro area, while remaining somewhat less developed than their US counterparts, developed rapidly in 1999.