It hosts one of the most developed capital markets in continental Europe, four global banks, the first insurance and asset management industry, a leading bond market, the largest commercial paper market with NEU-CP and the largest private equity investor in continental Europe. In addition, French financial authorities, including the Banque de France, are working together to facilitate the dissemination of sound and safe financial innovations and fostering the scaling up of sustainable finance. Green finance in particular is one of our priorities, and this is the reason why, at the One Planet Summit last December, the Banque de France launched the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), together with central banks and supervisors from all over the world. Moreover, a number of international banks have decided to transfer the bulk of their market activities to Paris, and Japanese financial institutions will always be welcome in Paris. 2. Beyond Europe, our collective questions Let me turn to the global questions that we have to address together, starting with Japan and France. I guess our views are very close here. There are increasing tensions in the global environment, starting with protectionism. Beyond the direct trade policy shock resulting from a rise in import tariffs, two factors at least may amplify the decline in global GDP: a decline in investment demand caused by firms’ falling business confidence due to uncertainty, and a rise in the financing cost of capital due to an increase in actual or perceived borrower risk.

Attention therefore was given for banking institutions to accord a special focus on providing financial services to SMEs, in particular in strengthening their facilities, outreach and services to SMEs. Today, all commercial banks have dedicated SME divisions and Bumiputera Development Units that are responsible for providing lending as well as ancillary support and advisory services to the SMEs. The commercial banks also have a specific client charter for SMEs, providing the necessary information to facilitate SMEs in applying for financing. The strategy to provide increased access to financing is also reinforced by the provision of information and financial advisory services to SMEs. In 2005, Bank Negara Malaysia established Laman Informasi, Nasihat dan Khidmat (or the LINK), as a one-stop centre for SMEs to obtain information and raise matters on access to financing directly with Bank Negara Malaysia. The LINK has dedicated staff that provides financial advisory services including for dealing with problems of obtaining financing and for restructuring of existing loans. To date, about 11,000 SMEs have sought assistance from the LINK. Another important initiative in disseminating information to the SMEs is the establishment of the SMEinfo Portal, an information gateway for SMEs. The Portal provides comprehensive information required by SMEs, including details on the Government's financial and non-financial assistance, financing products for SMEs by the financial sector, training programmes as well as advise on how to start and manage a business. The Portal also provides a platform for SMEs to advertise their products  BIS Review 13/2007  1  and services.