conflicts in their use could probably be avoided. see esrb ( 2012 ), annual report 2011, may 2012. proposal for a directive of the european parliament and of the council on the access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms and amending directive 2002 / 87 / ec of the european parliament and of the council on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate, com ( 2011 ) 453 final, brussels, 20 july 2011, and proposal for a regulation of the european parliament and of the council on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms, com ( 2011 ) 452 final, brussels, 20 july 2011. recommendation of the european systemic risk board of 22 december 2011 on the macro - prudential mandate of national authorities ( esrb / 2011 / 3 ). proposal for a council regulation conferring specific tasks on the european central bank concerning policies relating to the prudential supervision of credit institutions, com ( 2012 ) 511 final, brussels, 12 september 2012. bis central bankers ’ speeches 4. concluding remarks let me to conclude by quoting oscar wilde : “ you know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know ”. escb governors are very pleased with the mars report and how much progress the network has made. the interaction with “ the rest of the world ” today and tomorrow should fertilise the work further. i wish you many fruitful discussions in this regard. thank you for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches

vitor constancio : opening remarks at the second conference of the escb macroprudential research ( mars ) network speech by mr vitor constancio, vice - president of the european central bank, at the second conference of the escb macroprudential research ( mars ) network, frankfurt am main, 30 october 2012. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today and open the second conference of the macroprudential research network ( mars ). i am particularly happy to see that our conference has attracted such a large and diverse group of speakers and participants, combining intellectual brilliance with practical experience. all the relevant institutions and sectors having an interest in, and a contribution to make to, the macro - prudential field are represented in this room. “ setting the scene ” today, let me start my remarks by recalling what mars is about and illustrating a few key directions in the endeavour. 1. the origin and purpose of the escb macroprudential research network ( mars ) as you know, mars is a research initiative involving central banks from the whole european union, i. e. from the european system of central banks. it was established by the escb in the spring of 2010, upon the proposal of our heads of research. 1 against the background of the crisis, which started in the summer of 2007 and reached systemic dimensions in september 2008, a stimulus was required to push forward our research on systemic risk and on analytical tools supporting macro - prudential oversight. so, we set up mars with the objective of “ developing core conceptual frameworks, models and / or tools that would provide research support in order to improve macro - prudential supervision in the eu ”. this is not to say that central banks did not have any systemic risk and macro - prudential research before the crisis. quite the contrary is true : it is the very tradition of central banks to take a systemic perspective, in particular in financial stability matters. most central banks already had their own financial stability reviews for which many analytical tools were developed. mars, however, puts our systemic risk work on a much broader basis than was previously the case. as you know, central banks treasure the strong scientific foundations of their policies very much. in my view, our interaction with the academic community, based not only on substantial state - of - the - art in - house research, but also on continuous “ peer review ” of central bank policies through external research is