financial industry, you are all aware that french national regulators are recognised for their credible action and for being at the cutting edge of technological developments. i would also like to highlight one course of action at the banque de france. we have been a pioneer in central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) : in addition to taking an active part in the work on a potential euro retail cbdc, as early as 2020 we launched a series of twelve experiments on a wholesale cbdc, both for payments and securities settlement. the first nine experiments have been very valuable, and the three experiments underway focus on cross - border payments and tokenised asset settlement. 5 we are keen to pursue our long - standing partnership with commercial banks, to reconcile innovation and security ; and we now look forward to taking part in the eurosystem - wide experiments that the ecb has just announced6. as regards sustainable finance, without going too much into the subject, paris has stood as a pioneer for many years now. french banks, asset managers, and insurance companies are key players in sustainable finance, a segment that should further grow within the next few years. and we central banks are playing our role, in the very name of their primary mission of price stability. however, let us beware of the " magic wand " temptation7 : central banks – and green finance – cannot be the only green game in town, they cannot replace sound public policies and corporate transition plans. one necessary step for public policies is to put a price on carbon : it is the only way to make more green projects profitable ; and green finance without enough green projects would amount to idling our engine. i thank you for your attention, and wish you a good forum. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches 1 bloomberg, banks betting on paris say there is life after london, 18 april 2023 2 bloomberg, london losing to paris in battle of equity markets, 22 march 2023 3 insee, first estimate published on 28 april 2023 4 villeroy de galhau, f., banking turmoil : three blessings and a funeral, speech, 28 april 5 an updated report will be published by the banque de france within next months. you can already refer to our report published in november 2021 for the key findings from our first nine experiments. 6 ecb, eurosystem to explore new technologies for wholesale central bank money settlement, press release, 28 april 2023 7 villeroy de galhau, f., the role

##lity. however, it is also important to recognise that small economies will always be more volatile than larger, more diversified economies. given this reality, decision makers in all sectors ( smes, large corporates, households, the government ) should make financial plans on a prudent basis, with sufficient equity and cash buffers to cope with adverse shocks and due risk assessment of investment and consumption plans. finally, let me turn to the consumer protection work of the central bank, which extends to the sme sector. the central bank has consistently recognised the importance of ensuring that 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches regulated lenders treat small businesses fairly. a new set of regulations came into effect on 1 july 2016 for all lenders that provide sme credit, except for credit unions, which must comply from 1 january 2017. these regulations provide protections for micro, small and medium - sized enterprises when they are either applying for or already have credit facilities and also for guarantors of sme credit. in summary, the regulations aim to strengthen protection for smes, while also facilitating access to credit, by introducing specific requirements that regulated lenders must comply with such as : giving sme borrowers transparency around the application process ; providing sme borrowers with reasons for declining credit, in writing, that are specific to their application ; providing protections for guarantors of sme credit ; providing smes with the option of an annual meeting to review their credit facilities ; contacting sme borrowers who have been in arrears for 15 working days ; warning sme borrowers if they are in danger of being classified as not co - operating ; and providing sme borrowers with the right of appeal. we have produced a guide for smes on these regulations which is available on our website and i would encourage you all to read this4. isme were a key stakeholder for us in undertaking the development of these regulations and i would like to thank isme for its very constructive engagement in this work and its assistance in circulating our guide to its members. 1 martina lawless ( 2013 ), “ age or size? www. centralbank. ie / publications / documents / 02rt13. pdf determinants of job creation ”. 2 james carroll, paul mooney and conor o ’ toole, “ irish sme investment in economic recovery ”. www. centralbank. ie / publications / documents / qb2 % 202016 % 20irish % 20sme % 20economic