Having made these brief comments on the significance of investment, I do not need to give further reasons as to why we have chosen the determinants of investment behaviour to be the main topic of our conference.
Part of the recent dynamics in euro-denominated corporate bond markets has been driven by merger and acquisition activity that has greatly increased due to the restructuring needs of the corporate sector in the internal market of the European Union. Increases in the overall size of the euro-denominated capital market and in the size of individual issues have in many cases facilitated M&A activity.