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But for me the key topic for financial industry and this gathering is financial stability.
Because on everything else depends financial stability.
I said on many occasions that the financial system is the backbone of our economy and society.
Without an effective, efficient, competitive, stable banking and financial system we will have nothing else – including we will not have the green and digital transition.
So the work then and the discussions you will have today are absolutely core for our economy and society.
You have a big topic – banks in a deglobalising world – delivering for economy and society.
I quibble about deglobalisation, but I'll come to that.
But I think we all agree it's been an extraordinary, eventful few years globally - our world has changed and continues to change, and not always in a good way.
So I've give some reflections on:
...
Distress for a few banks in the US triggered a crisis of confidence and dare I say trust – I think the word trust is key for the financial system.
And that had a broader impact on financial markets.
So of course we need to look at why this happened, at the regulatory and supervisory responses, and the lessons we can all learn from it.
You all know that work is ongoing at the Basel Committee on this, and the Commission is part of those discussions.
But I think we can already say that there is agreement on the root causes:
Banks here in the EU don't share the same combination of vulnerabilities that resulted in recent US bank failures.
Our banks have proven to be resilient so far.
Our banks in the European Union have high levels of capital and liquidity.
EU supervisors are proactive – and as some of you in this room would say, even tough.
I want to just say I had a conversation, of course, with bankers in the room because there are many, and the word ‘boring banks' was used, the words. And I thought, yes, boring isn't bad when it comes to banking! We should remember that – you don't need to be in the headlines, let me reassure you
But our supervisors carry out regular stress tests, make sure banks are managing their interest rate and liquidity risk well.
What happened in the US and Switzerland raises questions, including whether our rules are fit for purpose and fit for the future.
And again I want to repeat my core message: we should not be complacent, and we in Europe need to learn lessons from elsewhere.
If anything, we should be reassured that recent events reinforce our approach to regulation and supervision:
Our priority is to finalise the implementation of the Basel standards.
And I hope that the co-legislators will reach agreement on this quickly.
We've had 15 years of continuous changes to banking regulation.
So it would be good to see more regulatory stability and certainty over the next 15 years – I see heads nodding in the audience, so I have agreement on that, and maybe others too concur.
The new macroeconomic context has an impact beyond banks.
Non-bank financial intermediaries might also be affected: so for example, if their business model relies on high leverage and a maturity mismatch.
They might need to adjust their risk management techniques or their business strategy.
And this is an important topic as we review our rules for alternative investment funds.
As part of this, we intend to introduce consistent rules on loan originating funds.
The negotiations between the Parliament and the Council are still underway, so we don't have the final rules yet.
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