The papers collected in this volume are those presented at the twelfth Colloquium arranged by the Societe Universitaire Europeenne de Re­ cherches Financieres (SUERF) which took place in Cambridge in March 1985. The Society is supported by a large number of central banks, commercial banks and other financial and business institutions, by treasury officials and by academics and others interested in monetary and financial problems. Since its establishment in 1963 it has developed as a forum for the exchange of information, research results and ideas, valued by academics and practi­ tioners in these fields, including central bank officials and civil servants responsible for formulating and applying monetary and financial policies. A major activity of SUERF is to organise and conduct Colloquia on subjects of topical interest to members. The titles, places and dates of previous Colloquia for which volumes of the collected papers were pub­ lished are noted on the last page of this volume. Volumes were not produced for Colloquia held at Tarragona, Spain in October 1970 under the title 'Monetary Policy and New Developments in Banking' and at Stras­ bourg, France in January 1972 under the title 'Aspects of European Mone­ tary Union'.