An extended period of adjustment has to be expected in the market for credit risk transfers, too. An additional development consists essentially in the fact that other financial market segments are being affected by adverse factors. The government-sponsored Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage associations are but one example.
My third point, finally, is that the recent problems in the financial system were, over time, heading more and more in the direction of the banks. First, risk premiums rose and the securitisation markets faltered.