three areas. we must ensure the effectiveness of our supervisory systems. we must improve the transparency of our markets. and we must promote the development of sound risk management cultures. we do not need to implement basel ii formally to introduce or to strengthen the principles behind its three pillars. however, beginning to apply those principles can be an excellent way to lay the foundation for basel ii in the future. for example, supervisors could consider or continue to focus on internal processes and move toward a system of risk - based supervision, to complement and enhance traditional supervision. we can improve our capacity to look beyond the numbers and evaluate the quality and capabilities of a bank ’ s risk management and measurement. at the same time, supervisors can nurture a “ risk management culture ” by emphasising that banks are responsible for evaluating their capital needs and for developing a strategy to maintain their capital levels, in line with the principles of pillar 2. finally, to improve market discipline along the lines of pillar 3, some supervisors may wish to begin by ensuring a basic level of disclosure across all banks. they could discuss with banks, investors, and other marketplace participants what information they need to understand a bank ’ s risk profile and then work to establish relevant reporting requirements. clearly, we have many diligent preparations to make in the coming months and years as we prepare for basel ii. later today, nick lepan will share more detailed perspectives on the challenges ahead. our workshops this afternoon will consider how to plan our transitions to basel ii, to prepare for the adoption of advanced approaches to risk management and the implementation of pillar 2, and to strengthen cooperation between home and host supervisors. with regard to this last topic of cooperation, i believe that our safety and soundness goals can be achieved more easily when supervisors adopt more consistent approaches. in particular, basel ii will have the greatest impact if supervisors work in concert rather than in a vacuum. this makes it critical for the basel committee to build its ties and to encourage cooperation with other supervisors. indeed, as i suggested earlier, many of the improvements to the basel ii proposals resulted from discussions with other supervisors and central banks. the quality of our dialogue illustrates the very good state of relations between all banking supervisors today. this event, for example, represents one of the most important opportunities for an exchange of views among committee members and other supervisors. but what begins here must translate into other avenues for communication on both multilateral and bilateral levels. in this regard, the core principles liaison group, or cpl

its interest in spanish economic history through its annual research grants programme, financing the collection of estudios de historia economica ( or, in banco de espana parlance, “ the red books ” ). there are now 72 of these studies, the first ones dating back to 1980. the aim of the banco de espana with this collection is to disseminate economic history papers written by its own staff or by researchers to whom it has awarded grants, in order “ to enhance knowledge of spanish economic history, paying particular attention to quantitative aspects ”. a detailed review of the collection shows that both spanish and foreign historians have collaborated in the project, covering an agenda that includes modern and contemporary issues. although the collection is open to all kinds of quality research, monetary and financial topics predominate. now, i would like to say a few words about our library, which has played a key role in our economic history studies and research. it was set up in 1931, and from the first half of the 1970s professor rojo promoted the formation of a highly specialised library, stepping up the acquisition of new collections and the modernisation and expansion of its services. 3 / 4 the most prized section of the library, the so called fondo de especial valor, comprising more than 16. 000 pieces from the 14th to the 19th centuries ( now in the process of digitalization ), is a testimony to economic thought and practice in spain and europe ; its content encompasses 16th century merchants ’ instructions, writings of the school of salamanca, the publications of the 17th century arbitristas and the works of 18th century enlightenment thinkers. the collection of royal decrees and proclamations ( around 4, 000 documents, including the 1745 - 1796 compilation ordered by the count of campomanes ), dealing mainly with fiscal, mercantile and monetary matters, enriches the library ’ s scope with the perspective of legislation topics. the fact that these collections are complemented by others, such as the goldsmiths ’ - kress library of economic literature and the king ’ s college collection of the papers of j. m. keynes, both on microfilm, makes the library an excellent repository for undertaking any study of economic history. let me conclude with a few words about today ’ s iii seminar of economic history that we are opening now. as you can see in the programme, we have about thirty participants from a dozen universities, central banks and research centres. economists from the banco de espana are participating as authors and also as discuss