will be operated by a public entity, the eurosystem, t2s can be relied on to operate in a fair way and on a not for profit basis. furthermore, more from a central banker ’ s perspective, more effective post trading structures – as achieved by t2s – will contribute to global resilience of financial markets and hence constitutes an important element to safeguard financial stability. moreover, t2s will contribute to lower cost of capital, hence contributing to the general growth in financial markets and overall economic growth. let me add that post trading costs in the us are at much lower levels than in europe. therefore, we need to make europe more competitive in the global financial market, and t2s is an important contribution in this regard. thanks to efforts made by hundreds of experts from over 80 european institutions and from the eurosystem over the last year, the governing council of the ecb has been able in the last few weeks to invite the european csds to express their support for t2s. we distributed to the european csds detailed user requirements, an economic impact analysis, a description of governance for the next project phase, and a presentation on harmonization efforts in the context of t2s, which are all the outcome of a transparent and constructive consultation process, cooperating with csds and market users. let me just point to a few elements of the economic impact study which you can also find on our website. the analysis concludes that the costs of settlement can reduced substantially from 73 cents a csd charges on average today to 32 cents per transaction under t2s. these costs can be even further reduced if more csds decide to join the t2s project. these numbers represent only the narrow business case and do not capture – of course – the full dynamic impact of t2s arising from enhanced competition in a single market for security settlement. let me stress that while one can be skeptical about the precise numbers i just mentioned, but we should definitely not be skeptical about the overall benefits of a more competitive and more integrated european financial market. t2s has been developed in a pure harmonization spirit which excludes – of course – specific functionalities supporting local practices. this does not mean that t2s prevents csds from supporting local practices ; it will however give those concerned – including legislators and regulators – an opportunity to consider whether their preservation is in the long term interests of the relevant economy. we have worked with the t2s stakeholders to identify

for complacency ”. while we can be pleased to have got so far so fast, we need to keep up a fast pace. we are ready to start the next phase of the project immediately after the – hopefully – positive decision of the governing council in order to meet the next milestone : defining the next level of the detail in the form of the general functional specification. this will make it possible for t2s to be live no later than 2013. ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the eurosystem, let me conclude by thanking the distinguished representatives of the banking sector for their contribution to the successful completion of the work done so far, and by asking for your continued support and cooperation. thank you very much.