Abstract

Creation and Supply of Liquidity on the Eurocurrency Markets and the Structure of the International Banking System

With the help of data published regularly by the Bank of England on the foreign currency transactions of the London banks, this study shows that the creation and supply of liquidity on the international financial market has increased substantially since the onset of the oil crisis in 1973. This process is interpreted as the outcome of the coincidence of fundamental changes on the investing side of the market in consequence of the oil price increase and of similar changes in the structure of the international financial system due to international co-operation among banks. The empirical analysis concentrates on the temporal development and the comparison of balancesheet structures of various groups of London Eurobanks. The study reaches the conclusion that the relevant differences among the banking groups are attributable to their respective roles within the framework of the international, intermeshing banking systems. In this way, empirically supported arguments are developed, which make a close relationship between the structural changes in the international banking system and the growth of international liquidity creation and supply seem probable.