assets is another challenge for regulators given the risks they pose for consumer protection and anti - money laundering. to address these risks adequately, the digital and global nature of crypto - assets calls for an international approach. * * * cooperation is all the more necessary as the major financial centres, including paris and hong kong, are highly interconnected. i believe that paris today has all the attributes necessary to become the pre - eminent financial trading and financing hub for continental europe. some of the world ’ s biggest banks, asset managers and insurers are already preparing for life after brexit and steering their european operations away from london to our capital. paris is already home to four of the eight 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches global systemically important banks in the euro area, in addition to being number one in the region in insurance and asset management. recent regulatory initiatives have made paris even more dynamic. capitalising on the reform of negotiable european commercial paper ( neu cp ) in 2016, a number of very innovative projects have been launched : for instance, the french telecoms company orange and the fintech setl have jointly set up a new central securities depository ( csd ) called id2s for the neu cp market, using blockchain technology. paris is also at the heart of cross - border initiatives, making the european financial market more integrated. the market exchange operator euronext is continuing to expand its federal model and in november 2017 acquired the irish stock exchange. the csd euroclear is also committed to fostering common infrastructures, and is even looking beyond europe with partnerships in the united states with dtcc or in asia thanks to bond connect. building on this comprehensive financial ecosystem, paris has also been one of the principal supporters of the renminbi ’ s move towards internationalisation. as of today, paris is indeed the leading continental european centre for deposits and bond issuances in rmb. this support was embodied and exemplified as early as 2014 with the signature by the banque of france of two memorandums of understanding with the hkma and the people ’ s bank of china. * * * cooperation will also prove invaluable in the face of the uncertainty caused by structural challenges. a first structural challenge is the digital revolution. the digital revolution is being fuelled by a wave of cutting - edge technologies, but also by the surge of new players. this new competition is being driven by fintech start - ups, but

##ully and successfully in so many “ battlefields ”. wim was not only a great central banker. he was not only a great president of the european central bank, making history in launching the single currency. he was a great friend, a great european friend. the dutch writer cees nooteboom says in “ the question of brussels ” : “ how to become a european? in starting by being one, a quality that we can acquire, for instance, in being born in the netherlands. the same result could be obtained, according to some, in sicily, in east prussia, in lapponia or in wales, but being myself a european of the dutch kind, i prefer to stick to this particular kind of european ( … ). in fact if i am a european, it probably means that the european wealth of different cultures influences my dutch specificity ”. wim was a great european, fully open to our common cultural wealth. fluent in english, german and french, as well as dutch of course, he was a man of culture, a man of great intellectual and moral elegance. among his many friends, his extreme kindness, his wit, his humour, his smile were legendary. his openness to others and his simplicity were always appreciated by all, particularly by the staff of the ecb. he gave a lot to colleagues and friends only out of the goodness of his heart. gretta, i am particularly fond of one memory of wim, an event which i must relate because it says so much about him. the two of you were in aachen when wim was to receive the charlemagne prize. there was he, that tall fellow with his magnificent mop of hair and there were you, a picture of supreme elegance. but you had a problem walking on the cobblestone streets of aachen – so wim gave you his shoes, carried yours and walked in his socks through the streets with his prize around his neck. simplicity, imagination, humour and great kindness are the best words to define our dear friend wim, who will be with us, with all of us, forever, as chateaubriand said, “ not defeated, only invisible ”. i would like to give the last word to wim himself. at his farewell celebration on 22 october 2003 he said : “ all in all, i had the privilege of being part of history. being responsible for the introduction of a new currency is the dream of any central banker, i believe. a