Philipp Hildebrand: SNB overview of financial market activity Introductory remarks by Mr Philipp Hildebrand, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the half-yearly media news conference, Berne, 16 June 2005. * 1. *  *  Developments in the financial markets  Financial market activity has been dominated in recent months by three key developments. Firstly, the US dollar started to strengthen. Secondly, long-term capital market yields declined further despite their already low levels. Thirdly, changes in credit risk premiums in the different debtor categories have been more mixed than in the preceding months. Despite the persistently high current account deficit in the US, the dollar has appreciated since the beginning of the year by roughly 12% against both the euro and the Swiss franc, and by approximately 7% against the yen. The dollar benefited in particular from the willingness of foreign investors to back US financial investments. In 2004, net purchases of US securities were dominated by the strong demand from certain Asian central banks. While such purchases have remained significant so far this year, private investors outside the US, too, have bought more US securities. This surge in demand is due in part to the fact that the markets continue to rate the growth prospects in the US better than those in Europe and Japan. The growing yield spread in favour of dollar investments as well as political uncertainty regarding the future development of the European Union have also contributed to the relative attractiveness of the greenback.

Mugur Isărescu: International Financial Reporting Standards – international experience and implementation by the banking sector in Romania in 2012 Opening speech by Mr Mugur Isărescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania, at the IFRS conference “International experience and implementation by the Romanian banking sector in 2012”, Bucharest, 20 June 2011. *  *  *  Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished audience, It is an honour to have the opportunity to open the proceedings of the Conference titled “International Financial Reporting Standards: International Experience and Implementation by the Banking Sector in Romania in 2012”. This is a topical and, at the same time, a hotly-debated issue that we are going to discuss together with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Economic and financial developments tending towards internationalisation of banking operations in the context of globalisation of financial markets have highlighted the importance of financial information provided by companies, especially in terms of assessing and presenting the results and risks attached to their activity. Moreover, in the aftermath of the past years’ financial crisis, stronger pressures for harmonising accounting rules worldwide as a basis for the published financial information have emerged. Under the circumstances, the National Bank of Romania, in its capacity as the regulatory and supervisory authority of the Romanian banking system has steadily sought to harmonise its rules and practices with the best practices in the field so as to increase transparency and ensure comparability of information across the entire banking sector.