lucas papademos : adoption of the euro by cyprus and malta speech by mr lucas papademos, vice - president of the european central bank, at the euro festivities marking the decision of the eu council on the adoption of the euro by cyprus and malta, brussels, 10 july 2007. * * * in less than six months from now, the euro will be part of the everyday life as the new currency of the people of cyprus and malta. this is an essential and practical consequence of the decision taken by the ecofin council today. it is a momentous decision in the history of both countries. and it is the culmination point of a process of economic adjustment and technical preparations. on behalf of the entire governing council of the european central bank, i would like to warmly congratulate all those involved in this process, and the people of cyprus and malta, on this accomplishment! the enlargement of the euro area to include these two countries is a significant and joyful event, not just for them, but also for all of us who are already part of the european monetary union. we at the ecb and the eurosystem are particularly pleased to welcome two new members in our central banking “ team ”. the central banks of cyprus and malta will become members of the eurosystem. and the governor of the central bank of cyprus, athanasios orphanides, and the governor of the central bank of malta, michael c. bonello will become members of the governing council of the ecb. the two governors, together with the other 19 members of the ecb ’ s governing council, will thus participate fully in the decision - making concerning the single monetary policy. we are looking forward to benefit from their experience and expertise in our deliberations. together, we will continue to analyse carefully the economic situation and outlook in the euro area and to do what is necessary to fulfil our mandate : to maintain price stability in the euro area as a whole, to the benefit of soon 15 countries and 319 million europeans. i am sure that the people of cyprus and malta are looking forward to the changeover to the euro. they rightly expect that it will take place smoothly and that they are informed about their new banknotes and coins. a smooth changeover to the euro will enhance their trust in the safety and integrity of their new currency. to this end, the ecb, in close co - operation with the central bank of cyprus and the central

thomas jordan : macroprudential instruments and balance sheet risks introductory remarks by mr thomas jordan, vice - chairman of the governing board of the swiss national bank, at the end - of - year media news conference, zurich, 16 december 2010. * * * in my following remarks, i will address two issues in depth. i will start by detailing the set of instruments which the swiss national bank ( snb ) should have at its disposal for the prevention of financial crises. i will then take a look at the risks on our balance sheet. macroprudential instruments at the snb more than three years have passed since the outbreak of the international financial crisis. the crisis made two things very clear. first, the capital and liquidity buffers in the financial system were far too low. second, systemic risks had been grossly underestimated prior to the crisis or had not even been identified. almost nobody suspected that the risks were so closely interlinked, nor that problems in a small segment of the us mortgage market could rock the global financial system and the world economy. in order to make the financial system more resilient, one thing that needs to be done is to strengthen the capital and liquidity buffers. significant progress has already been made in this regard with the approval of basel iii and the new “ too big to fail ” ( tbtf ) regulations. these measures should help ease the problems in connection with the tbtf issue significantly. but there will be other crises in the future, too. that is why it is equally important to identify the build - up of risks in the financial system at an early stage and to take countercyclical measures to mitigate them. it is in this area – referred to as macroprudential policy – where there are still major deficiencies. the national bank has the statutory mandate to contribute to the stability of the financial system. in its function as lender of last resort, the snb plays a key role in managing financial crises. it can provide emergency liquidity assistance to a bank that runs into difficulties, thus preventing the negative impact the bank ’ s default could have on both the banking sector and the economy. this remedial measure proved highly effective during the crisis. however, emergency liquidity assistance should only be provided in exceptional cases, as it creates false incentives for banks and entails considerable financial risks for the snb. in order for the national bank to fulfil its mandate, it is imperative that