Dinamica integrarii pietelor europene de obligatiuni

Abstract. The scope of this paper is to analyze the developments of European bond market integration in the context of the Economic and Monetary Union. We structured our research on sections that present the euro implications for the bond markets integration, the actual stage of the considered process, and the main features of the above mentioned markets in the light of the international crisis. Our results show that before the advent of the financial turmoil, bond markets have shown a high level of integration, particularly in the euro area. Convergence of prices of European government bond markets, for instance, has been significant since the introduction of the single currency. Corporate bond markets have also shown a positive integration pattern despite the insufficient harmonization of the post trading infrastructure. The recent financial crisis has had a significant impact on government bond markets, as evidenced by a deterioration of several integration indicators. Regarding the corporate bond markets, available data show only a limited impact of the turmoil on its (quite advanced) degree of integration