Change and Constancy in the Financial System: Implications for Financial Distress and Policy

Over the past three decades, the fi nancial system has been going through a historical phase of major structural change. And far from slowing down, the pace of change seems to be accelerating. The joint infl uence of fi nancial liberalisation, breakthroughs in fi nancial know-how and advances in information technology has ushered in an era of extraordinary innovation – an era that may well go down in history as another ‘fi nancial revolution’. Heavily controlled, segmented and ‘sleepy’ domestic fi nancial systems have given way to a lightly regulated, open and vibrant global fi nancial system.