authorisations process for firms – in particular more transparency and clearer expectations. we have recently closed our innovation consultation, including proposals for a sandbox, and the team are working through the response received. we expect to publish our feedback statement in may. we have improved our f & p system, delivering benefits and efficiencies for both industry and the bank – reducing the processing time for individual questionnaires ( iqs ) from 36 to 24 calendar days, in part through facilitating improved applications ( with a 50 % reduction in those returning incomplete ). we also plan to publish an authorisation and gatekeeping report in 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches the coming months setting out publically our priorities and expectations and how we are evolving our approach. we are taking a more integrated view of risks and priorities, with the external version of that work the regulatory and supervisory outlook we published last month. in addition to these, as i said we are involved in a transformative piece of work around enhancing our supervisory framework – such that it becomes more data - driven, agile and scalable. this involves improving the tools and technologies supervisors have, and it involves delivering a more integrated approach to supervision – both of which we expect to deliver real progress on this year. with a busy agenda ahead, i will leave it at that. i look forward to today's discussion and will hand over to peter to introduce the first topic. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches

benoit cœure : welcome remarks welcome remarks by mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the foreign exchange contact group meeting, frankfurt am main, 28 november 2018. * * * i am very pleased to welcome you here today to the foreign exchange contact group ( fxcg ) meeting. thank you for coming to frankfurt to share your views and insights with us. in my short introductory remarks, i would like to address the importance of strengthening the foundations of the foreign exchange ( fx ) market. i will argue that we all have a role to play here, and that adopting and adhering to the fx global code ( “ the code ” ) is a powerful way to support change and engage non - signatories in the change process. let me start by briefly illustrating a few of the most notable changes to the fx market structure in recent years. since our market contact group was set up in 1999, the fx market landscape has undergone a deep and broad structural evolution, which has gained significant momentum in recent years. on the sell side, one of the most notable changes relates to the execution of trades. fx trading has become increasingly electronic and automated, reflecting technological advances. the share of spot fx trading that is conducted electronically has almost doubled in the past ten years and now constitutes a substantial majority of daily turnover. the process of growing digitalisation coincided with the emergence of new market participants, trading venues and innovative services. despite these developments, however, liquidity provision has become more concentrated. today, fewer market participants account for an increasing share of fx turnover. we have observed similar changes in market structure on the buy side. for instance, over the past few years asset managers have generally increased their activities in fx - related products and have, over time, collectively emerged as important players in the fx industry. together, these structural evolutions have had implications for how the market functions and how central banks monitor the fx market. on the monitoring side, one tangible implication was the need to broaden the fxcg ’ s outreach to appropriately reflect the new, and more diverse, investor landscape. the ecb ’ s market contact groups are open to all interested market participants that apply for membership. it is important for us to follow a transparent application and governance framework. this is why the fxcg terms of reference, application forms and meeting material, such as agendas, the list of participants, presentations and summaries of our and other ecb market