timelines and the costs of the existing insolvency proceedings. conclusion to sum up, our duty, as economic and supervisory authorities, is to continue our close monitoring of financial institutions and markets, to ensure that they continue to provide the necessary flow of credit to the economy, and of financial stability risks stemming from this crisis. we must continue to adopt measures to mitigate those risks and, naturally, stand ready to provide an appropriate european response should such risks materialise. thank you for your attention.

be unsatisfactory. instead, bill sought to advance the state of the art in risk management across the industry and thereby promote greater stability in the global financial system. this would benefit not just bankers, but also businesses and consumers in all walks of life. it was truly a privilege to work with bill on an initiative that would represent not just good banking policy, but most importantly good public policy, more broadly defined. bill has since moved on to new challenges as head of the public company accounting oversight board in washington, but the u. s. delegation to the basel committee remains in excellent hands. now i have the privilege of working with leaders like roger ferguson, the vice chairman of the federal reserve, and jerry hawke, the u. s. comptroller of the currency. their hard work, and the hard work of the other supervisors participating in the discussions, have strengthened the quality of the capital rules. they and others have helped to ensure that the new accord will be flexible, forward - looking, and fit for the service of twenty - first century banking. the process of revising the rules has involved formidable challenges. that should come as no surprise. capital requirements make up the foundation of the regulatory framework. even more importantly, capital is a key ingredient to the health of the banking sector. the changes we are proposing to ensure that banks hold adequate capital will have broad implications not just for the banking sector, but also for financial markets and the broader economy. but the new basel accord is about more than just capital, it is also about keeping a level playing field and about reinforcing incentives to foster sound risk management though three reinforcing pillars : risk sensitive minimum capital requirements, coordinated supervisory review, and enhanced market discipline through greater transparency. supervisors and risk managers know that a bank ’ s management and controls make up its first and most important line of defence. the new basel accord seeks to capture the relationship between capital adequacy and risk management. recent developments : status of consultations and the october press release in that vein, i ’ d like to discuss the status of our discussions and especially the proposals for managing credit risk. by now you ’ ve no doubt read that the basel committee agreed two weeks ago on a breakthrough plan to address the final issues raised in public consultations and to complete the new rules. this was a difficult task, as the committee received over 200 comment letters from the industry and the broader public on the third consultative paper, or “ cp3 ”.