Financial Innovations: New Opportunities or New Risks?

Abstract

In recent years the banks have experienced a change in their traditional function as financial intermediaries. One major development with regard to this has been that of securitization, a term used to denote the process whereby enterprises increasingly turn directly to the financial markets to meet their financing needs. On the other hand, the banks themselves have also contributed to this development by shifting part of their lending to the issue market in an attempt to improve their balance structure.