and the financial industry. in the eu, the ecofin roadmap of october 2007 is in that respect the benchmark and it is important that the actions identified are indeed fully implemented without delay. i think it is equally important that continued efforts are put into the realization of two other ecofin roadmaps, namely the one regarding strengthening the eu arrangements for financial stability and the other one on enhancing the lamfalussy framework. both are indeed highly relevant in the context of the financial market correction. a major step in strengthening the financial stability arrangements was taken with the signature of the mou on cross - border financial stability. the next step consists of implementing and testing the memorandum ’ s procedures and principles, in which the ecb is actively involved. a second important strand of work under the heading of enhanced financial stability arrangement consists of reviewing the policy tools for crisis prevention, management and resolution at the eu level, where the european commission takes the leading role. the market correction has underscored the urgency and importance of enhancing crossborder convergence and cooperation in the supervision of cross - border banks in the eu, which is the objective of the roadmap on enhancing the lamfalussy framework. only in this way the necessary preconditions are in place to ensure an effective monitoring of, and response to, cross - border financial risks by banking supervisors. to that end, it is important to ensure that the level 3 committees as well as the colleges of supervisors can work as effectively as possible. ladies and gentlemen, john f. kennedy once famously said in a speech that the chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other opportunity. although i still prefer to speak of financial market correction, i believe i showed you that both elements are indeed present today. i thank you for your attention.

of the « originate to distribute » model. once could argue that in case central banks had access to more detailed supervisory information on banks ’ involvement in securitisation operations they would have found it easier to assess the implications of this development for the financial system as a whole. when a situation of financial stress actually emerges and risks developing into a financial crisis, supervisory information remains again crucial for central banks ’ financial stability assessment. but in this case, the need for information will be very much driven by the nature of the stress. in the present market conditions, central banks are of course very much interested in banks ’ exposures to the us sub - prime sector and to structured financial products, as well as the effect of the price corrections on banks ’ solvency position. a second area of cooperation i want to mention is liquidity, which is again at the cross - roads of central banking and banking supervision. much of the work that central banks and supervisors are undertaking to render financial institutions and markets more resilient to liquidity shocks is interrelated and offers therefore scope for mutual cooperation. i will give just one example referring to a topic i mentioned already earlier, namely banks ’ contingency funding plans. while normally supervisors require banks to set up these plans, central banks should also have access to them as an element to be considered in the context of deciding on liquidity provision. the final area i would mention is crisis management. in this field, the fsf report makes also a number of recommendations that pertain to the cooperation between central banks and supervisors. more specifically, the report recommends that for the largest cross - border financial firms, the most directly involved supervisors and central banks should establish a small group to address specific cross - border crisis management planning issues. i believe that in europe, the right principles have been agreed to meet this recommendation. the memorandum of understanding ( mou ) on cooperation on cross - border financial stability includes appropriate provisions on the cooperation between central banks and banking supervisors, for example when assessing the potential systemic implications of a financial crisis or when emergency liquidity assistance will be provided to a cross - border financial group. a second important reinforcement will come from the scheduled changes to the capital requirements directive, which include several aspects relating to the cooperation and exchange of information between central banks and banking supervisory authorities also in crisis situations. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude. the financial market correction has revealed areas in the regulatory and supervisory framework which need to be promptly addressed by public authorities