BIS Quarterly Review, December 2002

Following several quarters of decelerating growth, international banking activity began to stabilise in the second quarter of 2002. 

The slowdown in the international debt securities market that had begun in June continued into the third quarter of 2002. 

The aggregate turnover of exchange-traded financial derivatives contracts monitored by the BIS remained high in the third quarter of 2002.

Over the last two decades, banking crises have become more frequent and severe in both emerging market and industrial countries.

In September 2002, CLS Bank, a new financial institution set up to reduce the risk involved in settling foreign exchange transactions, began operation.

Banks and their supervisors have spent considerable time and effort in recent years developing systems for monitoring and managing interest rate risk.

Some observers have recently lamented that East Asia suffers from a lack of financial integration.