rasheed mohammed al maraj : bahrain develops its financial centre in the gulf region address by his excellency rasheed mohammed al maraj, governor of the central bank of bahrain, at the bnp paribas – inauguration of new premises at the bahrain financial harbor, manama, 9 november 2008. * * * monsieur de courscel, monsieur durand, ladies and gentlemen : it is an honour and a pleasure for me to join you today to celebrate the formal opening of the bnp paribas premises at the bahrain financial harbor. may i welcome m. de courscel and his colleagues who have travelled from paris to be with us today. their presence is indicative of the importance that bnp paribas places on the development of its business in the gulf region and an acknowledgement of the role of bahrain as the leading financial centre of the region, can play in that development. the bank ’ s relationship with bahrain goes back nearly 35 years and this relationship has been rather special. with the granting of a full commercial banking licence in february 1975, the bank became the first european mainland banking institution to conduct business in bahrain. later in the same year, the bank was one of the first international institutions to be granted an offshore banking unit licence. therefore, from an historical perspective alone, the bank has been closely involved in, and has become an integral part of, bahrain ’ s development as an international financial centre. the professional competence of its staff, the commitment of local management to maintain and enhance its operational base in bahrain, and the support given to this concept by its regional and head office directors, have been foundations upon which a success story has been built. at the beginning of this decade, bahrain was officially appointed as the hub for the bank ’ s regional operations. the opening of these splendid premises at the bahrain financial harbor are a physical expression of the success that bnp paribas has subsequently enjoyed in the region. these are, of course, challenging times for the global financial system. there now seems little doubt that, in the short term at least, this region will not remain unaffected by the global economic downturn. however, it is important to look beyond the immediate picture and focus instead on the long - run prospects for global and regional economic growth. the fact that bnp paribas is now strengthening its commitment to this region, is testament to its view that many good business opportunities are still to be found here. i am confident that the success that bn

benoit cœure : monetary policy transmission and bank deleveraging speech by mr benoit cœure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at “ the future of banking summit ”, organised by “ the economist ”, paris, 13 march 2014. * * * i would like to thank federic holm - hadulla for his contributions. i remain solely responsible for the opinions contained herein. summary deleveraging is not a process that policy - makers should seek to avoid ; rather, it needs to take place and be properly managed, explains ecb executive board member benoit cœure. describing the good, the bad and the ugly deleveraging at the future of banking summit organised by “ the economist ” in paris, he emphasises how the wrong type of deleveraging could impede recovery and make it more difficult for central banks to engineer an appropriate degree of monetary accommodation. to ensure the right type of deleveraging is achieved, mr. cœure highlights, “ both monetary policy and prudential supervision – notably the ecb ’ s ongoing comprehensive assessment – have a key role to play. ” according to him, the comprehensive assessment of banks ’ balance sheets and the steps taken towards the banking union are crucial to establish the conditions necessary for a transparent, competitive and stable banking sector. he adds, “ and they will help monetary policy to regain traction across the euro area. ” he concludes by explaining why it is important for the banking union to be complete, “ not moving promptly towards a single resolution mechanism ( srm ) and a single resolution fund ( srf ) would prolong financial fragmentation, leave the financial system exposed to systemic fragility, and, ultimately, be harmful for growth and jobs. this would in particular be the case if the srf is only slowly mutualised, and if it cannot resort to a common european backstop from the outset. ” * * * ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to speak to you at the economist ’ s “ future of banking ” summit. but before turning to the future of banking, let me briefly look back at its recent past. as you know well, the euro area banking sector is currently undergoing a secular deleveraging process. the need for deleveraging had its roots in a period of strong bank balance sheet expansion in the last few years. from the start of that expansion in 2005 to its peak in 2012, the total assets of monetary financial institutions rose by more than