compared with about a third in france, britain and the united states and half in germany. italy is the only major country in which this share has increased since the onset of the crisis ( figure 2 ). by contrast, the italian capital market plays a limited role in financing enterprises. firms ’ equity endowment in italy is not unlike that in other countries. financial leverage, 1 at about 50 per cent, is broadly on a par with that of firms in japan, germany and the united kingdom and higher than in the us and france. but about four fifths of shares are held and traded outside the official markets. stock exchange listing is circumscribed to a few large firms. considering non - financial corporations only, in 2012 italy counted 230 listed firms, compared with about 700 in france and germany. the median firm in italy had a market capitalization of about €90 million, twice as much as in those two countries. the total market value of italy ’ s non - financial corporations is less than 20 per cent of gdp, compared with 75 per cent in france and 45 per cent in germany ( figure 3 ). bond financing is also limited, outstanding issues now amounting to less than 8 per cent of firms ’ total financial debt ( figure 4 ). just a few italian corporations make bond issues on the capital market ( an average of ten a year over the past decade ). here, again, italy lags significantly behind, and in recent years the gap has widened ( figure 5 ). 2 the same pattern holds for other instruments of direct or indirect recourse to the market, such as asset securitizations. this type of financial system – bank - dependent, lacking well - developed equity and bond markets, incapable in practice of offering the productive economy any resources other the ratio of financial debt to financial debt plus shareholders ’ equity at market prices. in the four years from 2009 through 2012 bond issues by italian non - financial corporate groups on the international markets were negligible, while those by french and german groups were large and growing. bis central bankers ’ speeches than bank credit – is especially disadvantageous in the present cyclical phase. it penalizes firms, especially the smaller ones, because it prevents them from coping with the tightening of credit supply by replacing bank loans with other instruments. and it penalizes banks as well, saddling them with very high costs and risks. what is more, the strains in credit supply aggravate the difficulties of firms and feed

jean - pierre roth : as the financial crisis recedes, what are the lessons for central bank efforts in the future? summary of a speech by mr jean - pierre roth, chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the centre international d ’ etudes monetaires et bancaires, geneva, 24 november 2009. the complete speech can be found in french on the swiss national bank ’ s website ( www. snb. ch ). * * * the financial crisis of the last two years has caused people to re - examine a number of generally accepted ideas. corrective measures are being undertaken, particularly in the area of banking regulation. for central banks, the most delicate issue will be how to contribute to macrofinancial stability without jeopardising their objective of price stability and, in turn, compromising their own credibility. as regards banking supervision, close cooperation between central banks and banking supervisory authorities is essential. the temptation to concentrate forces is strong. in switzerland, placing centralised oversight responsibility with the swiss national bank would risk weakening the snb ’ s independence from the political sphere. with respect to systemically important financial institutions, everything possible must be done to limit the likelihood and the risks of further problems. major efforts are underway in this regard at the financial stability board. to ensure that central banks have the necessary means to act in a crisis, a liberal legal framework and a safety cushion in the form of equity are needed. the snb is in a favourable position in this respect.