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As background for this special issue of the Review, this article provides an overview of recent developments in financial structure in the major industrial countries using national flow of funds balance sheet data. We focus in particular on changes in the size and composition of the balance sheet for the major sectors — households, companies, general government, foreign and financial as well as banks and institutional investors separately. Two recent subperiods are distinguished, namely the 'great moderation' of high growth and low inflation from roughly 1997–2006 and then the crisis period 2007–10. We discern elements of convergence — notably in corporate leverage — but also some continuing contrasts — such as household debt — between market- and bank-dominated financial systems, while highlighting that short-run changes arising from the conjuncture may blur longer-term trends in financial structure. Looking ahead, the data highlight common challenges from public and household debt, albeit to an extent that varies markedly between countries. Bank deleveraging and recapitalisation appear slow, while a subsector including shadow banks continues to grow except in the US. There are contrasts between France and Italy on the one hand and Germany on the other which underline the vulnerability of the former in the ongoing Euro Area crisis.

Emphasising the scope for further growth in institutional investment, in Europe in particular, this paper focuses on the impact of institutional investment on the efficiency and stability of financial systems. The paper stresses the scope for efficiency gains arising from an increasing role of institutional investors, reflecting - inter alia - their role in improving corporate governance. The paper also argues that institutional investors tend to enhance financial system stability although they may sporadically exacerbate market volatility or liquidity problems. This calls for a close focus of regulators and monetary policy makers on institutional behaviour, while inter alia continuing the shift envisaged in the current EU Pension Funds (IORP) Directive towards a 'prudent-person rule' for investment, and focusing closely on the long-term sustainability of guarantees being offered on life policies, annuities and pensions.

In nominal terms, the fall in global share prices since 1999/2000 bears a close resemblance to that experienced worldwide in the years following 1972/3. This article seeks to compare the two periods of market weakness in the G-7 countries in terms not only of share prices but also focusing on macroeconomic trends, financial market developments, sectoral patterns of shareholding and potential wider economic consequences of falling share prices. It is shown that the earlier period was much more severe in terms of adverse economic developments, in particular high inflation. But the current situation also presents some risks, in particular a disruptive correction of US sectoral imbalances.