always looked at by different supervisors from different perspectives and a decision one way or another must be taken. basically then... it ’ s quite separate from brexit. in principle, doesn ’ t the ecb have, shall we say, no general objections to such a merger? we haven ’ t yet finished our checks. so i can ’ t say what the end result will be. and i ’ m not at liberty either to say anything because it involves individual institutions. i trust you understand. ms lautenschlager, thank you very much for the interview. i thank you very much. 7 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches

policy operations until the end of next year. in particular, as part of the measures designed to enhance the provision of long - term euro liquidity, the fixed - rate tender procedure with full allotment has also been temporarily extended to longer - term refinancing operations, implying that euro area counterparties can now borrow as much euro liquidity as they wish ( against eligible collateral ) also at some key term maturities, against an expanded set of eligible assets accepted as collateral. the new set of temporary measures aim to further enhance the access to euro liquidity to solvent banks, while also contributing to restore confidence among market participants in the current environment in which money markets remain under stress and the traditional channels of liquidity transmission are impaired. increased international cooperation in addition to domestic operational responses, central banks have further strengthened their cooperation throughout the turmoil. they have enhanced their cooperation first by means of enhanced information sharing and collective monitoring of market developments and later on through coordinated steps to provide liquidity. the main example of such coordinated actions among central banks is the us dollar term auction facility, which started in december of last year and in which the ecb agreed with the us federal reserve to grant loans in dollars to euro area banks. these usd liquidity providing operations have increased over time in terms of size and number of participants ( and now involve thirteen central banks, from both developed and emerging economies, in addition to the ecb ). as far as the eurosystem is concerned, the scope of this facility has significantly increased over time in terms of maturities covered and volumes involved. on 15 october the governing council took a further step with the decision – announced together with bank of england and the swiss national bank – to conduct operations at various maturities at fixed interest rates and with full allotment. as a result of this decision, euro area counterparties will be able to borrow as much usd liquidity as they wish, also at some term maturities, against eligible euro - denominated collateral, with the supply of usd guaranteed by an unlimited temporary reciprocal currency arrangement between the federal reserve and the ecb that will remain in place for as long as needed. on 15 october the eurosystem also entered into an agreement with the swiss national bank in order to facilitate the provision of liquidity denominated in swiss francs to euro banks. at the same time, in the past few weeks the eurosystem has signed agreements with the central banks of several european countries in order to improve the provision