Given the ease with which capital flows between countries and the impact such flows can have on countries with weak national financial systems, it is clear that finance is a fundamental dimension of globalization.. However, until a financial crisis erupts, analysts and policy-makers often remain focused on the domestic financial market, overlooking the global impact of their choices. The result is that they behave reactively and belatedly to the pressures from abroad.Globalization and National Financial Systems breaks new ground by exploring the challenges, constraints, and opportunities of national financial systems in developing countries, while noting that all such systems must be considered small when viewed in the context of global finance. Banking, securities, contractual savings, and systemic macroeconomic aspects are all considered. The detailed consideration of markets and institutions in a global context takes the reader far beyond the standard analysis of either domestically oriented finance or the macroeconomic implications of capital flows.