Financial intermediaries play an important role in the financial services industry. Many savers do not have the time or the expertise to identify and select individuals, companies, and governments to lend to or invest in. Once savers have lent money, they have to monitor the borrower’s behaviour and financial health to ensure that they will get their money back—a task that is time consuming and costly. Matching savers and borrowers and monitoring borrowers’ behaviour and financial health are functions that financial intermediaries can perform better and more cheaply than most investors can do on their own.