progress on the banking union also advances the capital markets union – not least because banks are major players in the capital market. their job is to act as a “ door opener ” for businesses. more capital market culture in old - age provision another area where europe could go further is in promoting a capital market culture for retail investors, particularly when it comes to old - age provision. 4 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches the euro area, for instance, has its own “ untapped ” funding source : savings surpluses of more than €300 billion a year. 5 these savings surpluses are driven in part by the greater need to provide for old age in times of demographic change and low interest rates. capital markets have the task of bringing together old - age provision and robust investment opportunities. sadly, though, the market for private old - age provision is still fragmented. different regimes at the national level are preventing the emergence of a pan - eu market for pension products. what is more, only a limited number of products are based on capital market instruments. this drives up costs for savers and restricts market liquidity. the newly established pan - european personal pension products ( pepps ) are designed to remedy this situation. in general, savings can impact more strongly on the economy if sound investment options are available across national borders. and to flank these efforts, we need to do more to promote financial literacy. savers need to become confident investors with a keen eye for opportunities and risks. conclusion ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by summing up my main messages. with regard to european market integration, there are four points we need to bear in mind. first, integrated markets can tap into the growth potential of the financial sector and real economy more effectively ; second, market integration can help ensure greater financial independence ; third, market integration can enhance financial stability, particularly in the euro area. and fourth, we need progress in terms of market access for smes and capital market culture in old - age provision. with regard to brexit, strengthening our own market infrastructures – the lifelines of the eu capital market – will help europe become a powerhouse in the global financial system. striking a balance between regulatory cooperation, further developing eu - based alternatives and preserving financial stability is essential when it comes to ccps – which are one of the core topics of this conference. in closing, allow me to wish you all a pleasant and successful event! thank you for your attention. 1 bis quarterly review

values? where are banking supervisors promoting ethical behaviour? can values even be a matter for banking supervisors in the first place, and should they be? at what point do rules and supervision reach their limits? and do we need a code of ethics in the business world? 2 what we can learn from the banking sector why exactly does business need values? after all, it ’ s perfectly adequate for the market to be guided by the invisible hand of competition – at least that was the predominant view before the financial crisis struck. there is no lack of controversial views claiming that business and ethics are locked in eternal conflict. us investor george soros, for instance, once said that the profitmaximising behaviour characteristic “ ignores the demands of morality ”, thereby rendering 1 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches financial markets amoral rather than immoral. following mr soros ’ line of thinking, then, perhaps we don ’ t actually need any values at all in business? isn ’ t “ competition ”, in and of itself, enough of a value for business? but scour the banking sector and you will find instances where ethics sometimes only played second fiddle, paving the way for what was, at times, glaring misconduct. the financial crisis, which originated in the us real estate markets in 2007, is a lesson that the consequences of pushing for short - term profits can be catastrophic. bankers who were convinced that their securitisation vehicles had shifted credit risk off their books let their conservative lending standards slip, which meant, in a nutshell, that they ended up issuing and securitising far too many risky loans. in a second step, those bankers underestimated the possibility that those loans might default because of a lack of due care and also the opacity of those securitised products. compensation models rewarding short - term behaviour did the rest. this all set a cycle of events in motion in which loans were systematically granted to customers who were unable to service them. not just that : in some cases, customers were deliberately mis - sold loans, all in the interest of pocketing quick gains. it's hardly surprising, then, that the crash in the us real estate market proved to have very far - reaching implications, not least in the shape of enormous costs for banks and a loss of confidence. the court rulings, fines and customer exodus i mentioned earlier thus continued to take their toll on banks long after the us real estate market went into free - fall. bearing