Page "History of banking" Paragraph 126

The dominance of U. S. financial markets was disappearing and there was an increasing interest in foreign stocks.

The extraordinary growth of foreign financial markets results from both large increases in the pool of savings in foreign countries, such as Japan, and, especially, the deregulation of foreign financial markets, which enabled them to expand their activities.

Thus, American corporations and banks started seeking investment opportunities abroad, prompting the development in the U. S. of mutual funds specializing in trading in foreign stock markets.