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Artículo de revista ; This article shows that collective investment undertakings (CIUs) have grown notably in recent years, both in Spain and other European countries. These developments have come in step with greater sector concentration and a rising percentage of assets managed by entities registered abroad. In line with the evidence documented internationally, the investment portfolios of CIUs domiciled in Spain reflect an increase in risk-taking over the last few years, although the weight of lower credit quality fixed-income instruments is very low. There are very close links between the Spanish banking sector and CIUs. First, a very sizeable share of the assets of Spanish CIUs is managed by subsidiaries of Spanish deposit-taking institutions. Second, a very significant proportion of CIUs' investment portfolios comprises financial assets issued by the banks themselves. Therefore, in-depth analysis of these interconnections is essential to assess the resilience of CIUs and that of the financial sector as a whole.

Artículo de revista ; On balance of payments statistics, in 2021 Spain's net lending amounted to 1.8% of GDP (1.2% in 2020). This increase mainly reflected the partial recovery in the travel surplus, thanks to the improvement in the epidemiological situation prompted by the headway in vaccination, and the widening of the capital account surplus, boosted by the credits corresponding to Next Generation EU. This countered the deterioration in the goods deficit, against the backdrop of the rising energy bill. Meanwhile, Spain's negative net international investment position decreased significantly (to 70.4% of GDP, its lowest level since 2006), thanks to the positive financial transactions with the rest of the world and, to a greater degree, GDP growth and the increase in value of external financial assets. Conversely, Spain's gross external debt reached another all-time high (€2,329 billion) due to the assumption of new liabilities, particularly by general government and the Banco de España. However, it fell as a percentage of GDP thanks to economic growth.

Artículo de revista ; This article analyses the main trends in securities issuance activity on international markets in 2020, a year in which capital markets were very buoyant despite the COVID-19 crisis. In 2020, record figures were posted for issues on fixed-income markets globally, driven by the measures adopted by governments and central banks to smooth financing and foment market liquidity. In terms of sectors, issuance by the public sector and non-financial corporations increased, while there were declines in the banking sector. By region, increases in issuance volumes were across the board, with notably greater dynamism in the United States and the United Kingdom. Finally, as regards time horizon, there was a strong increase in the second quarter of the year, with record figures posted. This may have been due to the fact that many issuers attempted to bring forward their issues in that quarter given the enormous uncertainty over the course of the pandemic and future financing conditions. Equity market issues were also notably buoyant, with figures not recorded since 2009.