Another period of high integration, in the decades prior to World War I, ended abruptly as a financial crisis of global proportions, accompanied by a credit crunch, broke apart bilateral arrangements and paved the way for several rounds of retaliatory tariff increases. Multilateralism has been a cornerstone of economic expansion since World War II.
The economic terms of the issues must comply with the guidelines established by the European Union; several alternative schemes have been defined, partly at the request of the Bank of Italy, to make adherence to the plan more advantageous for banks that intend to redeem their instruments within a relatively short time.