This very useful volume provides a ground up' survey, from a business law point of view, of the concept of finance as a vital component of the economic structure of the European Communities. In deeply informed detail it describes the architecture of the financial system, its institutions (banks, stock exchanges, etc.), the variety of financial instruments, the progress of liberalisation and harmonisation initiatives in Europe, relevant EC legislation, regulation of capital markets and securities, the development of international financial law, and the management of legal risk. The authors are all outstanding authorities in the field, with extensive experience both as practitioners and academics in many European countries and elsewhere in the world.