is even greater than the average numbers indicate. badly managed banks have been a key factor behind the sector ’ s problems in the years after the financial crisis and the preceding overheating of the economy. i welcome the danish bankers association ’ s new code of management. in your own words, this code is to address the “ individual cases of bad management, mismanagement and inexpedient management structures seen during the crisis ”. * * * turning to the international agenda, negotiations on a banking union are currently underway. danmarks nationalbank is following these negotiations closely. no decision has yet been made about danish participation, but the banking union will, in any case, have great importance for denmark. even if denmark opts out, two of the largest banks in denmark will be subject to supervision by the ecb in relation to considerable parts of their euro area activities. at present, these two banks account for more than 50 per cent of total lending by danish banks. at the same time, it is essential to all eu member states that the project is a success. financial stability in the euro area is a prerequisite for financial stability throughout the eu and has a large impact on future growth in the eu. at the same time, it is important that the banking union strengthens the single market for financial services. a well - functioning banking union requires strong confidence in the single supervisory authority. an important step will be taken with the ecb ’ s assessment of the assets and risks of credit institutions subject to direct supervision ; this will take place in the coming year. a credible exercise of that nature will give the banks involved a solid, and in some cases much - needed, stamp of quality. it is positive that the danish financial supervisory authority plans to replicate this exercise for the large danish banks, to the extent that it is possible. in this context i would like to mention the results of danmarks nationalbank ’ s most recent stress test, which will be published soon. they show that in all the stress scenarios the large banks have a common equity tier 1 ratio of more than 8, which is the threshold in the ecb ’ s stress test. recent years ’ improved capitalisation is a major reason for this. danmarks nationalbank generally takes a positive view of the banking union outlined. it is an important step towards strengthening the single market for financial services and hence cross - border competition. competition forces both banks and firms to be “ on their toes ” and improve their skills. that

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