further reduce imbalances and to foster competitiveness, growth and job creation, euro area countries need to continue with their reform agenda. as regards fiscal policies, governments should not unravel their efforts to reduce deficits and put debt ratios on a downward path. the composition of fiscal consolidation should be geared towards growthfriendly measures which have a medium - term perspective and combine improving the quality bis central bankers ’ speeches and efficiency of public services with minimising distortionary effects of taxation. in terms of economic policies, product market reforms to increase competitiveness will facilitate the creation of new businesses, support the tradable goods sector and foster job creation, while high unemployment rates require decisive structural reforms to reduce rigidities in labour markets and to increase labour demand. i am now at your disposal for questions. bis central bankers ’ speeches

##ntial standards for large banking organizations and nonbank financial firms designated by the fsoc. these standards will include enhanced risk - based capital and leverage requirements, liquidity requirements, and single - counterparty credit limits. the standards will also require the fsoc ’ s internal structure consists of a deputies committee – composed of personnel from all of the voting and nonvoting members – and six other standing committees, each with its own specific duties. the deputies committee, under the direction of the fsoc members, coordinates the work of the six committees and aims to ensure that the fsoc fulfills its mission in an effective and timely manner. bis central bankers ’ speeches systemically important financial firms to adopt so - called living wills that will spell out how they can be resolved in an orderly manner during times of financial distress. the act also directs the federal reserve to conduct annual stress tests of large banking firms and designated nonbank financial firms and to publish a summary of the results. to meet the january 2012 implementation deadline for these enhanced standards, we anticipate putting out a package of proposed rules for comment this summer. our goal is to produce a well - integrated set of rules that meaningfully reduces the probability of failure of our largest, most complex financial firms, and that minimizes the losses to the financial system and the economy if such a firm should fail. the federal reserve is working with other u. s. regulatory agencies to implement dodd - frank reforms in additional areas, including the development of risk retention requirements for securitization sponsors, margin requirements for noncleared over - thecounter derivatives, incentive compensation rules, and risk - management standards for central counterparties and other financial market utilities. the federal reserve has made significant organizational changes to better carry out its responsibilities. even before the enactment of the dodd - frank act, we were strengthening our supervision of the largest, most complex financial firms. we created a centralized multidisciplinary body called the large institution supervision coordinating committee to oversee the supervision of these firms. this committee uses horizontal, or cross - firm, evaluations to monitor interconnectedness and common practices among firms that could lead to greater systemic risk. it also uses additional and improved quantitative methods for evaluating the performance of firms and the risks they might pose. and it more efficiently employs the broad range of skills of the federal reserve staff to supplement supervision. we have established a similar body to help us effectively carry out our responsibilities regarding the oversight of systemically