This text considers the medium term impact of a single currency on a unified European capital market. It tackles key questions such as: Once the euro is in place, what is likely to change in European capital markets?

One of the greatest events in financial history will occur in 1999: the birth of the euro and the emergence of a unified European capital market. This is the first academic text to consider the medium term impact of a single currency on these markets. It tackles several key questions: Once the euro is in place, what is likely to change in European capital markets? How is the structure of the bond, equity, and derivative markets going to be affected? Are these markets going to be integrated? Is the disappearence of exchange rate uncertainty going to affect risk premium on the equity and corporate debt markets? Is the euro going to compete with the US dollar, and does this matter? Is the introduction of the euro likely to change the sources of competitive advantages of financial institutions? What are going to be the key factors for success in the industry? The European Capital Markets Institute commissioned a report to address these issues. Drawn from various countries and fields of research - banking, economics, and finance - the contributors analyse the structural effects of the introduction of euro on European capital markets.