##ised. they would have to be reduced before the scheme is established. if not, a common deposit insurance would lead to a redistribution of inherited risks. i am thinking here of the high stock of non - performing loans, but i am also thinking of sovereign exposures in banks ’ balance sheets. since the debt crisis, we cannot go on pretending that sovereign bonds are risk - free assets. and that is why the bundesbank advocates putting an end to the preferential treatment of sovereign debt in banking regulation. the wrong incentives implied should be reduced – gradually, of course. in any case, we need to avoid a situation in which banks are highly vulnerable because they have stockpiled huge amounts of sovereign bonds. in the current reform debate, many concepts involve new fiscal facilities. for example, it is 5 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches argued that a euro area budget would promote competitiveness and convergence of euro area member economies. however, such a budget could be counterproductive if it raises the fiscal burden weighing on european citizens. moreover, it should not create new opportunities for public borrowing, given already high debt levels. on the other hand, if it is part of a fundamental reform of eu funds, a euro area budget could be a welcome development. 3. 3 a strong euro area as part of a strong eu ladies and gentlemen at the world cup football tournament in russia, european teams were very successful. admittedly, the greek national team didn ’ t qualify and the germans failed miserably. but the last four teams were all from eu member states. when brazil became the last non - european team to drop out of the competition, our former national goalkeeper, oliver kahn, remarked on german tv : " well, at least we have a strong europe at the world cup. " it was just a witty one - liner, but of course he was not totally wrong. we need a strong european union beyond the football pitch. in fact, i would say we need it more than ever. europe is facing serious challenges : the reform of the euro area, the refugee crisis, the brexit negotiations, international trade conflicts, and various geo - political tensions. events and developments of the recent past underpin the necessity to act in close cooperation. we have to work together, based on our common values. these values on which the union is founded include respect for human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. however, a strong european union calls

nina stoyanova : banks and business speech by ms nina stoyanova, deputy governor and head of the banking department of the bulgarian national bank, during the video conference " banks and business ", organized by the capital newspaper, 2 december 2020. * * * i would like to welcome you to the video conference on banking and business, organized by the capital newspaper. the banking sector is sending off a challenging year. in 2020, we witnessed the unprecedented pandemic caused by covid - 19, the imposition of measures to prevent its spread, which led to an economic downturn, as well as to many difficulties facing business and the people we have to deal with on a daily basis. however, there were also positive events during the year, such as the inclusion of the bulgarian lev in monetary mechanism ii and the establishment of close cooperation between the bulgarian national bank ( bnb ) and the european central bank ( ecb ) in the field of banking supervision in july. 2020 banks in bulgaria were able to quickly adapt to the new reality resulting from the pandemic and ensure continuity in the provision of financial services to businesses and citizens. this became possible due to the high degree of electronicization and digitalization of the banking sector in the country. the focus of the activity of both the bnb as a regulator and the payment service providers in 2020 was aimed at increasing the security of electronic payments with an emphasis on card payment transactions on the internet and the opening of access to payment accounts ( the so - called “ open banking ” ). both processes are expected to be completed by the end of 2020 within the deadlines for the european union. the package of digital finance documents published in september 2020 by the european commission gives us a look at the future of payment services in the medium term. one of the important aspects in it should be the forthcoming revision of the payment services directive ( psd 2 ) in 2021. a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the in - depth identification of the customer on the level of payment fraud is to be made. new requirements will be considered to reduce “ social engineering ” or “ phishing ” fraud, including a match requirement between the payee ’ s name specified in the payment order and that of the account holder. special emphasis will be placed on the prevention of fraud in immediate payments. the possibilities for using the electronic identification and the solutions based on the certification services for fulfillment of the requirements for in - depth establishment of the client ’ s identity upon entering the account