This book is an economic survey of international capital mobility from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Capital Market Integration in South Asia: Realizing the SAARC Opportunity discusses the potential Capital Market Products/Activities which can create closer inter-linkage of the South Asian capital markets and help local/global investors benefit from this economic opportunity. While some ideas may be implementable now; others have future promise as the regional markets further mature. The book demonstrates both retail and institutional investor interest in this combined high-growth region by offering scope for yield, diversification and risk mitigation, maximized upside from multiple growth markets, minimized downside through low-correlation constituents, and more. The book's core theme addresses the challenges towards deepening the awareness and acceptability of regional economies. Only when this happens will the asset flows increase into the regional market products, providing scale-up that will aid viability for these products. Presents unconventional ideas for converting SAARC’s unique opportunities into ideas for capital markets Includes socioeconomic issues as a part of the discussion Offers a unique perspective on how the region’s economic opportunities can be translated into actual products Includes numerous charts and figures on South Asia’s economic state, its financial opportunities, and projected growth

Capital markets in the East African Community (EAC) face common challenges of low capitalization and liquidity, but to different degrees. EAC member countries have made noticeable progress in developing domestic capital markets through a regional approach, removing constraints on capital transactions and harmonizing market infrastructure. Nevertheless, empirical analysis suggests capital market integration has not deepened during the past few years in the EAC, although convergence of investment returns is taking place to some extent. Learning from the experience of the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, EAC countries would benefit from four actions to accelerate financial market integration: (i) further harmonize market infrastructure; (ii) strengthen regional surveillance mechanisms; (iii) encourage local currency bond issuance by multilateral financial institutions; and (iv) build the capacity of the existing regional institutions.

Providing an overview of the infrastructure of European Securities markets, this text offers topical analysis of developments and trends in market integration. The author provides industry professionals with a concise exposition of how the post-Euro market works, as well as offering laymen an entry point into the subject. Topics include: wholesale electronic execution; central counterpart clearing; and consolidation of the securities depositories.

This paper discusses the extent to which national capital markets have become linked, and identifies several of the more important consequences of that increased degree of integration. Alternative approaches to the measurement of capital market integration are reviewed, including deviations from the law of one price, differences between actual and optimally diversified portfolios, correlations between domestic investment and domestic saving, and cross-country links in consumption behavior. Two recent episodes of large-scale international capital flows—namely, the turmoil in the European Monetary System in the fall of 1992, and the surge of capital inflows into Latin America during the last three years—are examined for insights into the workings of today’s global capital market. Finally, the paper offers some concluding remarks on the future development of international capital markets, on exchange rate management, on alternative approaches to living with larger and more influential financial markets, and on the financing of investment in the formerly centrally planned economies.

The IMF Working Papers series is designed to make IMF staff research available to a wide audience. Almost 300 Working Papers are released each year, covering a wide range of theoretical and analytical topics, including balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity, and national and international economic developments.

This book builds on a year-long discussion with a group of academics, policy-makers and industry experts to provide a long-term contribution to the Capital Markets Union project, launched by the European Commission in 2015. It identifies 36 cross-border barriers to capital mar...