Europe's three primary regulators have conceded that regulatory changes may have been a contributing factor to the ongoing lack of liquidity in the region's bond markets.

In a semi-annual joint report on risks and vulnerabilities in the European financial system published on September 9 by the European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, the region's three most powerful regulators expressed concern about liquidity in securities markets, saying it had been "affected by structural changes, potentially including regulatory reforms in the post-crisis period".