which enables cross - sectoral cooperation among national and international entities in charge of supervision. the joint statement of 8 june 2007 envisages that the discussion will be continud in a structured manner for a period of two years untile the g7 summit in 2009 where they will review progress made. the oecd was asked to provide a platform for dialogue between the g8 and the five other countries. since it includes the major financial centres and holds regular regional meetings involving countries in the asia - pacific region as well as in latin america, it has a particularly large reach out to a number of systemically important countries. let me turn now to the changes in terms of substance which have been introduced since the crisis events in the 1990s. here i have to be selective because initiatives have been undertaken in many areas to improve countries ’ macroeconomic and financial sector institutions and policies and thus their resilience to crisis. the increased focus on financial sector issues, such as in the framework of the fsf or the changes in progress in the imf to place much greater emphasis in surveillance on this matter, is certainly very welcome. but i would like to highlight three more general concepts which i consider to be of utmost importance. firstly, greater transparency, both in the public and private sector, has been one of the major achievements since the 1990s. transparency is a precondition for wellfunctioning markets since it facilitates better risk management and leads to strengthened market discipline, which in turn has a positive impact on the conduct of macroeconomic and structural policies. enhanced transparency also enables investors to better differentiate between economies and thus helps to counter herding behaviour and contagion effects. the imf ’ s special standard for dissemination of economic and financial data has become a widely recognised benchmark to which a large and increasing number of countries have subscribed. transparency in the private sector is also crucial for well - functioning global financial markets. all in all, i am pleased to note that considerable progress has been achieved over the years. but there are still areas where there is room for improvements, including in the reporting to the imf on the currency composition of countries ’ foreign exchange reserves. my second point relates to standards and codes, which have been internationally agreed for a wide variety of areas such as macroeconomic and data transparency, banking supervision, corporate governance, accounting, payment and settlement systems, to name just a few. the imf and the fsf have designated twelve of these standards as being of particular importance

- s64. 9 mckay, a. and r. reis, ( 2016 ), “ the role of automatic stabilizers in the u. s. business cycle ”, econometrica, 84, 141 – 194. 10 mckay, a. and r. reis, ( 2016 ), “ optimal automatic stabilizers ”, nber working paper 22359, cepr discussion paper 11578. 11 hall, r. e. and r. reis, ( 2015 ), “ maintaining central - bank solvency under new - style central banking ”, nber working paper 21173, cepr discussion paper 10741, and hall, r. e. and r. reis, ( 2016 ), “ achieving price stability by manipulating the central bank ’ s payment on reserves ”, nber working paper 22761, cepr discussion paper 11578. 12 see, for example, brunnermeier, m. k., langfield, s., pagano, m., reis, r., van nieuwerburgh, s. and d. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches vayanos, ( 2016 ), “ esbies : safety in the tranches ”, european systemic risk board working paper 21, reis, r., ( 2013 ), “ the portuguese slump and crash and the euro crisis ”, brookings papers on economic activity, 44, 143 – 210, and reis, r., ( 2015 ), “ looking for a success in the euro crisis adjustment programs : the case of portugal ”, brookings papers on economic activity, 46, 433 – 458. 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches