The papers collected in this volume are those presented at the eighteenth Colloquium arranged by the Societe Universitaire Europeenne de Recherches Financieres (SUERF), which took place in Dublin in May 1994. The Society is supported by a large number of central banks and com mercial banks, by other financial and business institutions and by personal subscriptions from academics and others interested in monetary and financial problems. Since its establishment in 1963, it has developed as a forum for the exchange of information, research results and ideas among academics and practitioners in these fields, including central bank and treasury officials responsible for formulating and applying monetary and financial policies, national and international. A major activity of SUERF is to organise and conduct Colloquia on subjects of topical interest to its members. The titles, places and dates of previous Colloquia for which volumes of the collected papers were published are noted on the last page of this volume."

The Competitiveness of Financial Institutions and Centers in Europe addresses key questions facing European financial markets today. It relates to the dramatic increase in competition between financial centres and institutions under the influence of several factors -- the effect of innovation in financial products and technological processes, widespread deregulation and associated re-regulation (prudential rules), the implementation of the single market in Europe and the new strategies of institutions and national financial centres facing more competitive conditions. Major subjects include the transfer of fragility from the real economy to the financial sector, and vice versa, through such channels as booming financial activities, intense competition and greater risks, as in property lending, and also the more cautious policies adopted by financial intermediaries in response to losses in the recent recession. The papers were contributed by members of universities, the private financial sector, national and international policy making communities, and presented at the 18th Colloquium of the SociA(c)tA(c) Universitaire EuropA(c)enne de Recherches FinanciA]res, in Dublin, May 1994. They will be of central importance to policy makers, bankers, financial executives and academics.