This Technical Note analyzes and quantifies the effect of aging in Japan-both at the national and regional levels-on the nature of financial intermediation. Mounting demographic headwinds constitute a major challenge for regional financial institutions in Japan. According to prefectural...

In just over a decade after independence, the three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, have transformed themselves into fully functioning, small open-market economies that will be joining the European Union. Capital Markets and Financial Intermediation in The Baltics analyzes the...

The U.K. financial sector is globally systemic, open, and complex. It has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic fittingly, thanks to the post-GFC reforms, a proactive macroprudential stance, and an effective multipronged response to maintain financial stability. Brexit uncertainties are being handled...

Hong Kong SAR (HKSAR) is a small and open economy, and a major international financial center with extensive linkages to Mainland China. Over the past two years, Hong Kong SAR's economy and financial sector were adversely impacted by domestic social unrest, US-China tensions, and the global...