federation ) and euribor aci, of the eonia swap index in june this year is evidence of both the importance and the further potential of this market segment. i now turn to the least integrated money market segment, namely the one for short - term securities. compared with the equivalent us commercial paper market, which has an outstanding amount of around eur 1. 3 trillion, the aggregate size of the commercial paper and certificates of deposit markets in europe is around eur 0. 8 trillion. 11 in addition, while the us market is integrated, the short - term securities markets in europe continue to be segmented, with de facto several markets based in several market places. issuers and investors in the european short - term paper markets are therefore confronted with reduced depth and liquidity, and they have less diversification opportunities than in the us. the short - term european paper ( step ) initiative, which was set up and is being led by aci – the financial markets association, aims to overcome such fragmentation and to promote the development of a pan - european short - term paper market. step specifically aims to promote the convergence of the standards and practices prevailing in the european short - term securities markets through market players ’ voluntary compliance with the standards set out in the step market convention, which covers aspects like information disclosure, documentation, settlement, and the provision of data for the production of step statistics. since may this year, the european banking federation has been very fruitfully supporting the aci in the completion of the preparatory work. moreover, the european banking federation will directly contribute to the functioning of the step market, once in operation. see bis triennial central bank survey - foreign exchange and derivatives market activity in 2004 ( march 2005 ). see bis triennial central bank survey - foreign exchange and derivatives market activity in 2004 ( march 2005 ). including instruments issued on european markets, but denominated in currencies other than the euro. 4 / 6 the promoters are at present finalising the step convention and expect to see the first step - labelled programme in early 2006. as with the example of the ecb calculating and publishing the eonia rate, which i mentioned earlier, the ecb has supported the step initiative since its inception by acting as a catalyst for private - sector activities. back in 2001, the first discussions on step took place at the meetings of the ecb money market contact group. in 2002, the ecb hosted on its website the aci ’ s public consultation on

the appropriateness of the desired harmonised standards or regulatory frameworks and avoid unintended consequences. that is where the role of the g20, the basel committee, the financial stability board and iosco becomes very important. once appropriately harmonised standards or regulatory frameworks have been adopted and implemented, a consistent assessment of implementation should be undertaken. these assessments could take three forms : • systemic participants and financial market infrastructure operators should conduct periodic formal full or partial self assessments of their observance of the set standards and principles. the outcome of these assessments would lead to continuous improvement or enhancement of risk management practices, which should also meet organisational objectives rather than being just relevant for regulatory compliance purposes. • regulatory and oversight authorities, as part of discharging their mandates, should regularly assess adherence to standards and observance of relevant principles by entities that they regulate or oversee • independent assessments could be undertaken by international financial institutions ( ifi ) such as the imf and world bank, or take the form of country peer reviews, also in order to ensure that there is a standardisation of assessments to determine best practice. current requirements that have been set for banking institutions are being interrogated by various jurisdictions to see how best they could be adopted and to ensure implementation. as many of you will be aware, a second draft of revised regulations to give effect to the basel iii accord in south africa was released in september 2012. the revised regulations will come into effect on 1 january 2013, and steps had been taken to ensure that south african banks will be in a position to comply with the liquidity coverage ratio by 2013. some jurisdictions and entities viewed international standards as only the minimum benchmark and rather strive to achieve higher goals, an approach that south africa has tended to follow when it comes to capital adequacy. it is also important to always reiterate that in the implementation of standards and principles, as much as there is an important role for regulators, similarly, there is also an important role for market participants. it is in the interest of market participants to cooperate with regulators to ensure a safer financial system in which they operate. 3. areas of cooperation and collaboration by regulatory authorities cooperation among regulatory authorities should be fostered both domestically and internationally. this should happen in normal times where ideas and experiences are shared with a view to strengthening the overall financial system. this also allows for building and strengthening of relationships that would be useful in more stressful situations. due to the interlinkages of the various