slide 2 ). the outstanding amount in these three euro area countries combined has reached €350 billion so far in 2012 and the market is well established. apart from products linked to national cpi indices, a large part of these markets consist of bonds linked to the euro area hicp, which we use at the ecb for our analyses of inflation expectations. apart from the inflation bond market, there is a growing swap market ( see slide 3 ). the inflation - linked swap market has gained liquidity and, for us policy - makers, it is another source of signals about inflation expectations and it helps us to understand their term structure. finally, an interesting, but still developing market is the market for inflation options. it potentially can deliver signals on the probabilities of various inflation outcomes, as priced by investors, but the liquidity and segmentation of inflation options remain a significant challenge. let me now say a few words on how we use signals extracted from markets for inflation protection for our daily analysis ( see slide 4 ). the ecb monitors inflation expectations by using surveys and implied signals from swap and bond markets. market - based indicators are more volatile than survey - based indicators. in part, the volatility is related to noise due to the bis central bankers ’ speeches market turbulence experienced in recent years. however, movements in market - based measures provide information on inflation expectations beyond what is contained in survey information. in particular, monitoring developments in inflation risk premia can help to assess inflation concerns among market participants. looking at the developments in market - based measures of medium to long - term inflation expectations in the euro area during the crisis, inflation expectations seem to be well - anchored in spite of market turbulence and uncertainties regarding future developments ( see slide 5 ). as the chart shows, the anchoring is confirmed by stable survey - based measures as well. comparing euro area data with that of the united states and united kingdom, inflation expectations in the euro area derived from inflation - linked markets seem to have been relatively stable during the financial crisis, in fact more stable than for the other two currency areas ( see slide 6 ). for the euro area in particular, inflation expectations have remained very well anchored following the non - standard liquidity provision measures undertaken by the ecb. the anchoring of expectations at relatively low levels probably reflects continued negative output gaps in the euro area as well as confidence that the ecb will be able and willing to drain liquidity if and when necessary to control inflation.

stability. there are benefits in maintaining a high level of integration with the united kingdom after brexit, and indeed, trade openness is in the dna of the eu. but brexit also entails making important policy choices regarding how open the eu ’ s financial markets need to be, and what measures need to be in place to ensure financial stability, protect eu consumers and investors and safeguard the single market. while not confirmed, current discussions indicate that the way in which we will interact with the united kingdom in the area of financial services will be based on the eu ’ s existing equivalence regime, with some expected enhancement. the aim would be to ensure sufficient regulatory and supervisory cooperation, information exchange and mechanisms to minimise unwarranted disruption in the functioning of markets linked to a potential loss of market access. this will of course be vital for the uk - eu situation after brexit, but also provides an opportunity for our relations with other key non - eu countries. however, a key principle underpinning third - country regimes needs to be maintained : we should avoid a situation in which non - eu firms are able to operate across the single market on the basis of a different rulebook and without a proper institutional framework. we cannot permit opportunities for regulatory arbitrage and let risks build up in the financial system. it is also crucial that brexit does not lead to a race to the bottom in regulatory and supervisory standards, and that the efforts that have been made to strengthen the financial architecture of the eu following the crisis do not unravel. the framework thus needs to provide sufficient safeguards for maintaining financial stability. and, as risks differ across financial services, this in turn implies that different financial services may need to be regulated by different third - country models. in the short term, a number of proposals should be adopted. first, on the review of the prudential framework for banks ( the capital requirements regulation and directive ) the european commission proposed that non - eu headquartered banks with subsidiaries in the euro area would establish an intermediate parent undertaking within the eu. this would bring certain non - eu branches under the umbrella of european banking supervision, as is established practice in the united kingdom and united states. going forward, further harmonisation of the regulatory and supervisory framework of third - country branches in the union would be of the essence. second, we need to adapt how large investment firms are supervised to reflect the many similarities between their activities and those of banks. it therefore makes sense