Private equity and growth markets in European countries with less developed capital markets could see an extra $50 billion of activity a year under a possible capital markets union, according to research from New Financial.

The think tank examined the private equity industry and growth capital markets, which include high-yield bonds, IPOs and venture capital, in Europe over the past five years. It found that countries such as the UK, Ireland and Norway had higher private equity activity relative to GDP than the European average of 0.44% of GDP.