http : / / www. eurojatalous. fi / fi / 2015 / 2 / voisiko - kyberhyokkays - johtaa - finanssikriisiin ( english version forthcoming ). bis central bankers ’ speeches the way we think about cyber security : cyber security should not be thought to be only a cost center, but it needs to be perceived as a business enabler. it is relatively more straightforward to handle cybersecurity in the interbank payment ecosystem, since the access points to the payment system are limited and connections can be made using secure dedicated networks. in contrast, retail payment systems may have billions of potential access nodes and utilize standard internet connections. security solutions for these are different, especially considering how to make sure that all end user access nodes are secure enough. central banks, together with all other stakeholders – banks, supervisors, cybersecurity companies – can be active in raising awareness of cybersecurity, setting the basic security requirements, and enabling the flow of best practices from one payment service operator to another. central banks are a natural catalysts for cross - border cooperation to promote cybersecurity of the whole financial infrastructure. after all, it is an international infrastructure, which requires international cooperation doing the oversight. 2. 5 international compatibility finally, the fifth criterion, international compatibility, states that common standards and rules governing payment systems are needed to promote harmonization and to ensure interoperability of different retail payment methods. 8 in a global economy, fragmented payment system landscape across countries will increase the costs for individual users and societies as whole. technical innovations may increase the fragmentation, unless some common ground has been found through open standards. either in terms of interfaces between systems or in terms of payment systems used. but international compatibility is not only about the interoperability between payment systems. it is also about the compatibility with the laws and regulations of the society around the payment system. future payment systems should not be in a conflict with the laws of the society in any country where the payment system is operational. with the future payment systems emerging, international compatibility is again an issue in the spotlight. sepa was a step towards international compatibility in the field of payments. there is again a risk that future payment systems will become fragmented with the emergence of new payment methods. it would better to set the harmonized guidelines before this fragmentation actually happens. the work done by the euro retail payment board ( erpb ) and its national counterparties

trigger. not only the so - called peripheral economies were hit, but the disturbances were felt globally as well. the interbank markets also reacted, so that money market spreads increased dramatically, in europe to highest levels since 2009. ( slide 3 ) in the euro area as a whole, there was a clear risk of an actual credit crunch. the increasing pressures on banks ’ funding and their capital could have led to a dangerous scaling - back of bank lending to the private sector. the result could have been a vicious circle involving low economic activity, even more funding stress for banks, and a further reduction in lending. if that development had taken hold, a danger of deflation would have been imminent. bis central bankers ’ speeches in early december, the ecb announced a set of powerful monetary policy measures to deal with this threat. the most significant were two long - term refinancing operations ( ltros ) with an exceptional maturity of 3 years. the ecb also allowed the national central banks to accept a wider range of collateral than previously. the reaction of financial markets was very positive. the confidence of the markets improved during the first quarter of this year, and the ecb policy measures announced in december contributed a lot to that. of course, monetary policy is no substitute for fiscal measures which are needed to ensure that budget deficits of all euro area countries are under control. the improvement in the market situation was also helped by the progress made by euro area governments towards instituting more binding common fiscal rules and strengthening the financial firewalls efsf and esm and by the progress in fiscal consolidation and economic reform in many countries. the improvement of the first months of this year showed up particularly in the rebound of equity prices, and a decline in risk spreads in the bond markets. the expectation strengthened that europe would follow in the tailwater of the us, where promising signs of economic recovery have already been observed. the uncertainties however, as you are aware, the last couple of weeks have again demonstrated the fragility of the situation. at the turn of the second quarter of 2012, doubts arose once more about the viability of the southern european fiscal programmes. the markets reacted again, risk aversion took hold once more and also the growth outlook weakened – judging from the nervous reaction of stock indexes and bond prices. ( slide 4 ) in spite of those jitters, there are continued signs of stabilization in the global economy, and also in the euro area, although at a