stability in the long run. to conclude, i would again like to emphasise that in order to achieve the goals of the financial sector and the snb, we both need one another. on the one hand, the snb acts as the bank of banks, providing a stable currency, liquidity and a payment system on which banks rely. by ensuring price stability and contributing to financial stability, the snb helps create the conditions in which the financial sector can flourish. banks benefit from a strong see also geneva financial center, economic survey 2015 – 2016, october 2015, which sets out the challenges geneva, as a financial centre, is facing. bis central bankers ’ speeches economy and long - term macroeconomic stability. on the other hand, the financial sector acts as an intermediary between monetary policy decisions and the overall economy. it contributes to an efficient economic system and to the prosperity of our country. the snb thus needs a competitive and stable banking system to fulfil its mandate. the long - term goals of the snb and the banking sector usually go hand - in - hand. monetary stability and a strong financial sector are in our common interest. they represent long - term assets for the whole economy and for switzerland as a country. ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches charts chart 1 source : snb chart 2 bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 3 chart 4 bis central bankers ’ speeches chart 5 bis central bankers ’ speeches

peter praet : the target2 - securities framework agreement address by mr peter praet, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the event marking the first signatures to the t2s framework agreement, frankfurt am main, 8 may 2012. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is no exaggeration to say that today is a historic date for the t2s project. it marks the end of more than two years of negotiations on the t2s framework agreement, one of the most critical legal documents underlying the whole project. the president reminded us in his address of how important it is to cooperate if we want to achieve our single market objectives. t2s is a clear example of the very good cooperation amongst stakeholders in the post - trade industry : as of today, the spirit of the project will move on from negotiation to cooperation. we shall work together with the csds to implement t2s – for the benefit of the european financial markets. i would now like to congratulate the csds that signed the framework agreement today. they have demonstrated their willingness to adapt to change. they will play a central role until t2s goes live by preparing and conducting the testing of the system, and they will help us to ensure that the operations of t2s run smoothly from the beginning. this is especially true for those csds that will transfer their operations to t2s as part of the first migration waves. it is in acknowledgement of this contribution that those csds will be entitled to financial incentives reserved for the early joiners. i am delighted to welcome them to t2s. the csds that signed the framework agreement today represent about two - thirds of the total settlement volume in the euro area. in addition, several other csds are expected to join over the next few weeks, once their feasibility assessments are complete. in total, we expect to reach more than 90 % – possibly 100 % – of the euro settlement volume by june 2012. t2s is a truly european project, which is capable of generating great economies of scale and of bringing benefits to its users and to europe as a whole. it is a network business : the larger the volumes settled in t2s, the more benefits for all of its participants, in terms of cost reduction and collateral savings. a large participation in t2s will also result in a wide harmonisation of practices and procedures across europe – harmonisation, which will, in turn, bring