develop a 24 / 7 settlement system. 9 the u. s. treasury echoed this theme in a recent report. 10 over the past year, we have undertaken an assessment of what the federal reserve could do to modernize its infrastructure to support interbank settlement of faster payments. that assessment found that 24 / 7 payment - by - payment interbank settlement in real - time - - what we refer to as real - time gross settlement ( rtgs ) - - offers clear benefits in minimizing risk and maximizing efficiency. a 24 / 7 economy with 24 / 7 real - time payments needs 24 / 7 real - time settlement, and rtgs is the way to achieve this. that is where we believe that the federal reserve and the private sector together need to make investments for the future. in this regard, the u. s. retail payment system lags behind some other countries : the reserve bank of australia and the european central bank have already implemented or are on the cusp of implementing rtgs systems to support private - sector faster payment services. faster payments task force, final report part two : a call to action, july 2017, https : / / fasterpaymentstaskforce. org /. u. s. department of the treasury, a financial system that creates economic opportunities : nonbank financials, fintech, and innovation ( washington : department of the treasury, july 2018 ), https : / / home. treasury. gov / sites / default / files / 2018 - 07 / a - financial - system - that - creates - economic - opportunities - - nonbank - financi.... pdf. the federal reserve and payment system stakeholders have an opportunity to upgrade america ’ s payment system to meet the needs of households, businesses, and banks in the app economy. today, we are publishing a federal register notice that seeks public comment on potential steps the federal reserve could take to support the vision of rtgs of faster payments. the reserve banks could develop a service for rtgs that is available on a 24 / 7 basis to provide payment - by - payment interbank settlement in real time and at any time, on any day, including weekends and holidays. the reserve banks currently provide payment services to more than 11, 000 banks across the country. a 24 / 7 rtgs service provided by the reserve banks could significantly improve the prospect that banks of all sizes will have equitable access to a real - time interbank settlement infrastructure for faster payments in the

european central bank : press conference on the chosen design for the new ecb premises introductory statements by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the european central bank, and mr lucas papademos, vice president of the european central bank, to the press conference on the chosen design of the international urban planning and architectural design competition for the new ecb premises, frankfurt, 20 january 2005. * * * ladies and gentlemen, we have invited you today for the presentation of the chosen design proposal in the international urban planning and architectural design competition for the new ecb premises. in our introductory remarks we would like to do the following : first, to briefly recall the main steps that have led to the outcome of the competition. second, to present the chosen design proposal in some detail. and third, to explain what happens next. afterwards, we will be happy to answer further questions, as will the chosen architect when it comes to technical questions on the design proposal. the decision of the governing council / the conclusion of the competition last thursday, on 13 january 2005, “ the governing council chose the design for the ecb ’ s new premises out of the 3 revised design proposals of the 3 prize winners of the international urban planning and architectural design competition. after extensive discussion and a careful evaluation, the governing council concluded that the revised design concept of coop himmelb ( l ) au best meets the functional and technical requirements specified by the ecb, and has features that reflect the ecb ’ s values and transforms them into architectural language. ” [ quotation of the press release ] on 13 february 2004 an international jury consisting of architects, eurosystem representatives and a representative of the city of frankfurt chose three winning designs in accordance with the following criteria, as laid down in the competition rules out of the 12 design concepts submitted in the second phase of the competition : 1. overall town - planning, architecture and landscape ; 2. compliance with the main features of the functional and spatial programme, including modularity ; 3. feasible approach to an energy / environmental concept and compliance with the main features of the ecb ’ s technical requirements ; 4. compliance with the relevant rules, in particular in the field of building law and environmental law. the first prize was awarded to coop himmelb ( l ) au, vienna ; the second prize to asp schweger assoziierte, berlin ; and the third prize to 54f architekten + ingenieure, darmstadt, in