and to restrict leverage in the banking system. 1 in the area of capital regulation, he also stressed the importance of countercyclical mechanisms and the possibility of combining risk - weighted and simple unweighted instruments. we believe that the crisis should prompt the big banks to consider where the core competences of bankers lie, and that it should not be left to the authorities alone to think about the lessons to be drawn from the turmoil. in our view, long - term risk - adjusted considerations should take on more of a leading role in bankers ’ decisions. in this situation, we believe, the apparent contradiction between supervisory demands for more capital and liquidity, on the one hand, and banks ’ competitiveness, on the other, will be dissipated. preparations for the new series of banknotes running according to plan as announced, i would like to close with a more cheerful topic that is unrelated to the financial crisis. a number of you will remember the snb ’ s artistic design competition for a new series of swiss banknotes, which was held in 2005. since then, design work has continued and the technical requirements for the creation of an innovative series of new banknotes have now been fulfilled. manuela pfrunder, the graphic artist, has further developed her drafts and completed the design for the chf 50 note, taking the technical aspects of banknote production into account. at its meeting of 29 august 2008, the snb bank council approved the design of the new chf 50 banknote and gave the go - ahead for the further work that is to be done. preparations for the technical aspects of implementation of banknote production are now in full swing. a particular challenge is posed by the security features that will be used in the new banknote series for the first time. based on the progress of work to date, the snb is confident that the first banknote in the new series will be ready for production within the planned time period. the chf 50 banknote will mark the beginning of the new series of banknotes and is scheduled to be issued in autumn 2010. the appearance of the new banknote and the security details for the entire series will be presented shortly before the scheduled issue date. nout wellink, the importance of banking supervision in financial stability, high level meeting, 17 november 2008, beijing

released, either immediately or gradually. the key features of the ccb the ccb combines several key features that directly address the problem of cyclical risks to financial stability. in particular, when activated, the ccb should help reduce the amplitude and the consequences of imbalances for financial stability. the ccb should increase resilience by ensuring that an additional buffer of capital is built up gradually during the boom, a buffer that can then be released to cushion losses in an eventual downturn. it thus limits the threat of vicious fire - sale spirals. moreover, by increasing the relative cost of providing credit, the ccb should help to lean against the build - up of excesses. in addition, the buffer is designed in such a way that it can be implemented on a broad basis or can target specific segments of the credit market only. currently, for instance, signs of a build - up of excesses in the swiss credit market merely relate to the domestic mortgage and residential real estate markets. thus, if the buffer were to be activated, it would be aimed solely at this segment of the credit market. not least, a ccb is one of the key components of the reforms of international financial regulation ( basel iii framework ). it will be introduced by most countries within the next few years. in this context, criticism has been raised that an early introduction of the ccb would cause competitive disadvantages for the swiss financial sector in international comparison. for various reasons, this criticism is invalid. first, the ccb will be activated only if deemed necessary ; most of the time, it is likely to remain turned off. second, if activated, the ccb would be applicable to swiss banks and to subsidiaries of foreign banks in switzerland, ensuring a level playing field. third, given the geographical diversification of the two big banks, an activation of the ccb focused on domestic risk - weighted assets would not have a material impact on these banks ’ overall capital situation. finally, by contributing to financial stability and hence reducing the risk of domestic banking crises, the ccb should help increase the overall long - term attractiveness and competitiveness of the swiss financial sector. how the ccb works let me now address four key questions pertaining to the functionality of the ccb ; and, for that matter, of any macroprudential instrument targeted at containing the cyclical dimension of systemic risk. first, how do we know that imbalances have reached a level such that an activation of the