treasury bonds. for instance, the average size of the issues has increased. the editions have also become increasingly standardised. other means used to maintain liquidity are repurchases and bond swaps. on the other hand, the cross - border diversification in investors'portfolios has increased at a much slower rate than anticipated. rapid expansion in the euro stock market with regard to the stock markets, stock exchange trading in the euro countries was converted into euro right from the start of the emu in 1999. this means that approximately three - quarters of share trading throughout europe and one - quarter of international share trading is now in euro. if one examines this development a little more closely, it becomes clear that the increased degree of financing outside of the banking sector that can now be perceived on the interest rate markets is also visible in the stock market. it is possible to measure this development in slightly different ways, but all measures show the same picture. if we look at the development over the past ten years, we can see for instance that market capitalisation in relation to gdp has grown from approximately 20 per cent in 1990 to almost 90 per cent in 2000. this means that according to this measure, the euro countries have passed japan, while the usa is still ahead of them. it is interesting to note that the eu countries outside of the euro area are at approximately the same level as the usa, or at just over 150 per cent. however, the stock markets in the euro countries are growing rapidly. between 1995 and 2000 the value of the listed companies in the euro area grew by 276 per cent. the corresponding figure in the usa was 206 per cent. looking at the number of new issues and number of listed companies also gives a picture of a strong development in europe. all in all, there is a clear picture that companies in the euro zone use risk capital to a lesser degree than those in the usa, but that the differences are rapidly declining. the rapid developments have also put greater pressure on structural changes in the infrastructure of the stock markets. since the introduction of the euro, we have seen several examples of co - operation and mergers between stock exchanges in europe. euronext, the merger between the stock exchanges in paris, amsterdam and brussels, is one example. but, as with the interest rate markets, there are still important barriers to a complete integration in the stock market. barriers to further development of the euro market despite the positive development in trade in securities in the euro area, developments

an open mind, but without losing touch with reality. 3. german market migrates to t2s t2s showed us just how complex innovations can be in the settlement world. we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when the german market, with its central securities depository clearstream banking ag, migrated to the single shared platform ( ssp ) as scheduled at the close of business on 6 february 2017. transition work went smoothly, as did the first days of business. it truly was a resounding success – a masterpiece in cooperation across an entire industry. it ’ s always the case that success has many fathers, and that bon mot really is quite apt when it comes to the settlement of securities which, after all, is a network industry. every single stakeholder – the 4cb, clearstream, all the banks and other customers of clearstream – had to migrate simultaneously and adjust their systems accordingly. that ’ s why thanks are also due to everyone involved. i firmly believe it was an impressive accomplishment. all in all, 18 central securities depositories and their markets have now migrated to t2s since the platform was launched in june 2015. this means that t2s is a major step closer to the vision of it becoming a hub for european securities settlement. this migration was particularly noteworthy because the size of the german market effectively doubled the volume of business settled via the t2s platform. t2s has demonstrated that it can cater for whatever standards market participants expect a european securities settlement platform to meet. for german market participants, the ssp not only eases settlement by standardising and harmonising procedures but also offers them opportunities to optimise their liquidity and collateral management. 4. invitation to reception ladies and gentlemen 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches today ’ s focus session was a very special one for me. we made a conscious decision to host this session, following the german market ’ s transition to t2s, here in frankfurt am main. the migration of wave 4 to the ssp marks a huge step forward for each and every one of us. of course, that ’ s an achievement we need to celebrate. however, today ’ s session did more than just dwell on past achievements – we also looked to the future and the challenges it holds in store. because as a chinese saying goes, the roads of tomorrow must be built today. we, the central banks, organised this focus session for you, the market participants. you engaged with