joachim wuermeling : brexit means brexit - but what does it mean for europe as a financial centre? speech by prof joachim wuermeling, member of the executive board of the deutsche bundesbank, at the annual reception of the association of foreign banks in germany, frankfurt am main, 20 june 2018. * * * 1 introduction ladies and gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to be able to speak to you today about the future of europe as a financial centre after brexit. there are three aspects which i would particularly like to address. the first of these is that banks looking to relocate their business to the eu or expand their presence here after brexit will be asked to satisfy the same minimum prudential standards that foreign banks already operating within the union and domestic institutions are expected to comply with. at the same time, we will need to find solutions that prevent any unnecessary additional expense. my second point is that in future, institutions that conduct cross - border business will be heavily dependent on how the respective supervisors oversee third - country institutions – as they will then be – and how the authorities involved will cooperate internationally. and third, when considering brexit, we tend to dwell on the negative side of things and think about how best to cushion the impact. as important and justified as these considerations are, we nonetheless need to continue to press ahead with our vision of a harmonised financial market in the eu – a digital financial centre of europe which offers as yet untapped potential. 2 leaving the single market means separate supervisory regimes two years on from the brexit vote, we can only assume that cross - border economic relationships look set to face noticeable headwinds going forward. for the financial markets, this means one thing : the financial services passport is dead. this immediately raises the question : could it be feasible to have something like a diet version of the financial services passport, or to perhaps create a range of exceptions? the clear answer to this is that there cannot be, nor will there be, any permanent exceptions. institutions that relocate operations to the eu or expand their presence here following brexit will have to comply with the same high supervisory standards that apply to the institutions that already operate here. this answer is underpinned by the fundamental belief that supervisors must be capable of intervening in the business activities of institutions operating within their own jurisdiction at all times. this is a sine qua non, and it should not be up for grabs.

for release on delivery 12 : 45 p. m. edt september 12, 2018 what do we mean by neutral and what role does it play in monetary policy? remarks by lael brainard member board of governors of the federal reserve system at the detroit economic club detroit, michigan september 12, 2018 it is a pleasure to be in detroit. i started my career working here in the motor city, and i have followed the fortunes of this area with interest ever since. a few years ago, i visited some of detroit ’ s neighborhoods with our local officials at a time when damage from the crisis was still pervasive. while challenges remain in many of the city ’ s neighborhoods, since that time the metropolitan area overall has seen signs of a rebound in business activity and investment, and the unemployment rate has continued to trend downward, recently falling to 4. 3 percent. 1 this is similar to the nation ’ s economy more broadly. while challenges remain for many, aggregate growth is strong, and the economy is meeting our full employment and inflation objectives. given the outlook, it comes as no surprise that the federal open market committee ( fomc ) has been gradually raising interest rates from crisis - era lows and sees further gradual increases as likely to be appropriate in its most recent statement. 2 before discussing the outlook, it might be useful to first explore some concepts that are important in informing the path of rates. what is the neutral rate of interest? in thinking about how we should set the federal funds rate, many policymakers and economists find the concept of the neutral rate of interest to be a useful frame of reference. so, what does the neutral rate mean? intuitively, i think of the nominal neutral interest rate as the level of the federal funds rate that keeps output growing around its potential rate in an environment of full employment and stable inflation. 3 i am grateful to john roberts of the federal reserve board for his assistance in preparing this text. these remarks represent my own views, which do not necessarily represent those of the federal reserve board or the federal open market committee. see board of governors ( 2018a ). the closely related concept of the natural rate of interest - - the rate of interest at which investment and savings are equilibrated at full employment - - is originally attributed to swedish economist knut wicksell. - 2 focusing first on the “ shorter - run ” neutral rate, this does not stay fixed, but rather fluctuates along with important changes in economic