but at the same time, i firmly believe that the forthcoming revision of the crr and crd regimes should be used to further simplify the regulation of small and noncomplex institutions adopted as part of the banking package as a way of boosting proportionality. basel iii offers a number of ways to achieve this. we explored these opportunities in a joint nonpaper prepared by the bundesbank, bafin, the federal ministry of finance and the german banking industry committee, and we intend to bring our thoughts to the table during deliberations in brussels. 3 global role of the german and continental financial centre ladies and gentlemen, one of the reasons that federal minister of finance olaf scholz cited in his new push to complete the european banking union is the need to preserve europe ’ s “ financial sovereignty ”. and he ’ s got a point : we here in continental europe cannot rely as much as we once did on the free movement of financial flows around the globe. post - brexit, we will no longer have the global financial powerhouse of london within the eu ’ s jurisdiction. the multilateral principles and rules guaranteeing a level playing field for trade and investment worldwide are increasingly being called into question, creating a sense of uncertainty, 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches particularly in trade relations. under these circumstances, we need to be able to finance the eu ’ s real economy, including the necessary digital innovations and the transition towards a less carbon - intensive economy, under our own steam – for example, by forging a network of continental financial centres. eu regulators, banking supervisors, and above all the banking industry, need to rise to this challenge ; this includes completing the banking union, pressing ahead towards a capital markets union and implementing the basel standards. financial flows on the continent should not be channelled via offshore financial centres, but remain within a continental, perhaps even more digital ecosystem. if we need more capital than we have, or we want to invest more capital than we need, it is up to us to put in place the necessary channels linking us to the global financial system. new tasks might be in the offing for the eurosystem infrastructure here – as you will know, some third parties have already called for efforts to be made on this front. 4 global competition banks are facing from tech firms ladies and gentlemen, banking services revolve around processing data, so they lend themselves to a greater or lesser degree to full digitalisation – unlike industrial products, say, or

hermann remsperger : reforms must continue speech by professor hermann remsperger, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at barclays capital roundtable, frankfurt, 10 february 2004. * * * in terms of both economic development and economic policy 2003 was a year of important changes. the german economy, which had been stuck in a cyclical downturn during the first six months of the year, was finally able in the second half of the year to begin to break free from the underlying stagnation that had been persisting for approximately three years. in december the way was cleared for economic policymakers to introduce a whole raft of reform legislation, which came into force on 1 january 2004. although the agreed measures will set in train the long - overdue process of reform in germany, it would be unrealistic to assume that they alone will completely remove the impediments to growth in the country. further efforts are essential for that. the focal points of the reforms are well known : greater flexibility on the labour market, reform of social security and consolidation of public finances. i will have something to say on these areas of reform in the second part of my talk. however, i would first like to shed some light on the current economic situation. i economic situation and outlook the economy in germany took a turn for the better during the second six months of 2003. during this period real gdp after adjustment for seasonal and working - day variations rose by an estimated ¼ % compared with the first six months when it had declined by a similar amount. that decline and the sluggish start to 2003 have meant that - according to initial preliminary figures from the federal statistical office - aggregate output fell by 0. 1 % on an annual average. the economic trend in 2003 was determined by persistently weak domestic final demand. enterprises reduced investment for the third year in succession. there was also a further decline in residential building. moreover, private consumer spending, which had already been muted, was again below the previous year ’ s level. inventory investment provided considerable positive growth stimuli as the process of destocking - to the extent identifiable - slowed down markedly. while exporters saw their turnover rise on an annual average, they lost international market shares, not least because of the appreciation of the euro. despite significant improvements in the terms of trade, the external sector had a discernible retarding effect on gdp growth as there was also a relatively strong rise in imports. although in