2  As quoted in Fratianni, M., J. von Hagen (2001), The Konstanz Seminar on monetary theory and policy at 30, in European Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 17, pp. 641–664. BIS Review 133/2010  1  taken of fundamental differences between the financial structures of the economies concerned.
In contrast to the U.S. financial system, banks play a dominant role in funding euro-area non-financial corporations. Over the period from 2004 to 2008, bank financing represented, on average, more than two-thirds of total external financing for those corporations, compared with less than one-half in the United States.