indicators measures the level of venture capital financing. venture capital is indeed an attractive additional source of corporate financing, as it provides financing to young and small, research - based firms, which typically face constraints in the more traditional markets. our indicator shows a rise in venture capital financing in europe in the recent years ; however, the starting level is very low. more precisely, the euro area average for the last five years amounts to 0. 02 % of gdp, compared with 0. 1 % in the united states. therefore, i see more room for investigating ways to promote the development of this type of markets as well. the final market i want to include in my overview of the state of financial integration is the banking market. again, banking markets offer a nice illustration of how important the underlying infrastructure is. the wholesale and capital market - related segments are supported by target2 and, not surprisingly, are well integrated. for example, cross - border interbank loans account for a quarter of total interbank loans, and banks ’ intra euro area cross - border holdings of bank securities have almost tripled over the past decade. by contrast, the corporate and retail banking markets have remained more fragmented so far, also reflecting the multiplicity of existing payment systems. for instance, the euro area crossborder loans to non - banks have remained at low levels, currently at below 6 % of the total. similarly, the cross - country dispersion of banks ’ interest rates on loans to firms and households has remained relatively high, especially with regard to consumer loans. now, the ecb and the eurosystem are working hard to address the remaining gaps in financial integration, in particular when it comes to market infrastructures. the year 2008 has marked the launches of two important projects in this regard : target2 - securities and sepa. the eurosystem ’ s target2 - securities, or t2s, initiative establishes a pan - european securities settlement platform, in which cross - border transactions will be settled at the same price and as efficiently as domestic transactions. moreover, the t2s settlement cost will be significantly lower than the cost of domestic transactions today. in addition to the pure settlement cost, banks and other users would also achieve back - office and collateral savings. the t2s user requirements are a result of intensive cooperation by hundreds of experts from market participants, service providers and central bankers. by july 2008, we had received support of all euro area central securities depositories to the continuation of the

stretching the monetary policy mandate. our crisis measures must be temporary and targeted. they are justified only in the light of the exceptional circumstances seen during the pandemic. extraordinary times require extraordinary action. as the crisis evolves and subsides, the ecb will reconsider its tools and supervisory practices. 1 recital 3 of decision ( eu ) 2020 / 440 of the european central bank of 24 march 2020 on a temporary pandemic emergency purchase programme ( ecb / 2020 / 17 ) ( oj l 91, 25. 3. 2020, p. 1 ). 2 recital 3 of decision ( eu ) 2020 / 440 of the european central bank of 24 march 2020 on a temporary pandemic emergency purchase programme ( ecb / 2020 / 17 ) ( oj l 91, 25. 3. 2020, p. 1 ). 3 ibid., article 4. 4 account of the monetary policy meeting of the governing council of the european central bank held in frankfurt am main on wednesday and thursday, 3 - 4 june 2020, available on the ecb ’ s website. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches