Overview

It is the aim of this study to assess the effects of the EU enlargement on the capital markets in the most advanced countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Russia and to analyse the impacts on the interactions between Eastern and Western capital markets due to the integration process. Therefore, this study should be particularly useful for financial analysts, institutional investors and academic researchers who are interested in the economic and institutional developments of capital markets in CEE countries and are looking for a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the future perspectives of these capital markets. The European Union has opened negotiations for EU membership in early 1998 with five CEE countries, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. In autumn 1999 the group of CEE countries invol ved in the negotiations for EU membership has been enlarged by Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia. The negotiations with some of the CEE countries have already reached a stage that makes entry into the EU in the next few years very likely. The joining countries have to adopt the whole acquis communautaire, which represents the legislative framework common to all EU members. Important parts of the acquis communautaire e. g. the liberalisation of capital movements, European Monetary Union, the free provision of bank and non-bank financial services and new rules for prudential supervision directly and indirectly affect the behaviour of the financial sector and the functioning of capital markets.