At present, cross-border payments are often slower and more expensive than domestic payments. 13 There is therefore a large-scale international cooperation within the frameworks for the G20, FSB and BIS to improve international payments. Although Sweden is not a member of the G20, we play an active role in this work, and one of the working groups is led by First Deputy Governor Cecilia Skingsley. In addition to this, the Riksbank is also working more locally on making it easier for Swedish households and companies that want to make cross-currency payments. We have begun to investigate, together with the ECB, whether it would also be possible to use the TIPS platform for cross-currency payments. As I mentioned earlier, the Riksbank will have its RIX-INST service for instant payments in SEK there. If we succeed with this type of standardisation, it might also work as an example for other countries and regions to follow. Another change that is under way in Sweden in particular, is the continuing decline in the use of cash. According to the Riksbank’s most recent survey, less than one in ten purchases in Sweden is made with cash now, see Figure 1, and last year Swish was for the first time used more than cash. 12 The Riksbank has signed an agreement with the ECB on the settlement of Swedish krona in TIPS. For further information on this, see link on Riksbank's website. 13 This applies primarily to payments outside of the EU. For an arithmetical example, see the report Payments in Sweden.

The CMU action plan should cater for initiatives promoting private sector solutions, such as a broader use of existing rating tools. Investors need also to access clear, comparable and comprehensive accounting reporting which are currently lacking for most SMEs in Europe. Because accounting rules are the basis of financial information, a Capital Markets Union cannot be effective with 28 different accounting systems. This is all the more relevant in the Banking Union, where banks supervised by the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) are still subject to different accounting systems. In this area, progress is highly desirable and as a first step, I would support an initiative aiming to assess the quality and degree of comparability of national accounting standards and to promote further convergence. (iii) Third, it remains necessary to ensure financial stability in the long run. The shift towards more market-based financing would entail several implications from a financial stability perspective. The development of alternative sources of funding, outside the banking system, brings a necessary diversification. Yet the risks associated with disintermediation are clear, notably a limited assessment 3 of risks by investors or less ability to address difficult situations and gaps in supervision. In parallel, re-intermediation by non-banks raises level-playing field questions linked with uneven regulation and supervision across sectors and countries. The objectives of the Capital Markets Union should serve as a backbone to the regulatory efforts made at the European level. Before adopting new pieces of legislation, it is of utmost importance to thoroughly examine their impact.